the link is a business management column written by Tom Wall, president of Dairy Interactive, LLC and Language Links, LLC for owners and managers within the dairy industry. Tom’s Wall is your link to these free weekly reflections on employee management, leadership and life.
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| The Last Straw |
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| Written by Tom Wall |
| Tuesday, 20 July 2010 06:50 |
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You’ve heard the old saying about the “last straw breaking the camel’s back”, right? Although it seems like just another cliché, how many of life’s hassles and headaches would you say are due to the “last straw”? You know... the little things you said you’d deal with awhile ago, but then you put them off because they really weren’t that big of a deal. As minor issues add up over time, you find yourself becoming more inconvenienced and frustrated every day. Eventually, these annoying little problems turn into big concerns that start causing measurable damage and need to be stopped and resolved immediately. And that tends to be how it goes when it comes to employee-related issues. You neglect creating simple, clear policies and protocols to help you address problems when your team goes off track. You justify your lack of follow-through to being too busy, not good with conflict, or uncertain that you will find a better replacement. And then... you’re pushed to your limits. The “camel’s back” breaks and your only remaining solution is to fire the team member in question. In hopes that everything would’ve just fixed itself, you chose to put off dealing with this person until it was too late. You probably even said that from now on you’re going to avoid these long, drawn-out problems and have policies in place and enforce them. But then you got busy and now you’re convincing yourself that the current, similar situation is different from the last one and it won’t end up the same. Does that sound somewhat familiar? The bad news is that it’s tends to be a recurring theme. But the good news is that you’re in pretty good company. It seems that everyone who has to deal with employees, coworkers, contractors, tenants, neighbors, friends, family... actually, people in general... all face the same awkward reality when wishing to correct unresolved issues. So what can you do from now on to avoid finding yourself in this familiar position when you’re managing your employees? Ultimately, there are only two steps you need to follow. Number one... determine what you truly expect from your employees. Not what you’d merely like them to do, but what you need them to do. Just as principled coaches are willing to bench their all-stars for missing practice, you need to be uncompromising on a few basic values and standards that you expect your entire team to live by. And what if they don’t? Well, that leads us to number two... Follow through with what you say and enforce your policies, rules, and protocols. Granted, nobody’s perfect. And not all mistakes and errors in judgment should be handled the same. While serious issues at your dairy like animal abuse, drunkenness, and time clock dishonesty usually need to be remedied with termination, other concerns probably only need to be called to an employee’s attention with a written warning. Regardless of how you choose to address employee-related concerns, the way you handle each one will communicate how serious you are about your expectations and standards. Instead of demonstrating that you’ll tolerate an “anything goes” environment until you eventually break, show your team that your expectations are more than just mere suggestions. Stay firm when it comes to your dairy’s expectations, and don’t let everyone’s issues pile on.
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