Sticky Management Issues

Managing Employees with Unrealistic Goals

I've been busy reading and responding to an avalanche of "yes, but..." questions that I received in response to last week's Sticky Management Issue: Managing Employees With No Goals. In it, I laid to rest the time-honored, yet increasingly useless question that managers have been asking their employees for years: "What are your professional goals?"

I suggested more creative and expansive questions to replace that old standby; questions that would more effectively solicit clues to employees' priorities so that leaders would have the information they need to manage and motivate their employees. But here is where this management issue gets really sticky. One reader commented, "Yes, that might work better, but in this economy, I would rather an employee tell me that she has no goals than that she has a whole list of life and career goals that I can't possibly help her meet. I think that we should re-assess the appropriateness of asking questions of any kind that start employees on the "I want track." This reader and many others further explained that fulfilling employees' wish lists was no longer a feasible option for most companies, if in fact it ever was. One long-time manager asked, "How do I get employees to put more realistic constraints around their career goals? In this market, we all have to go the extra mile just so that we can keep our jobs. I don't want my employees pining for promotions, flexible work schedules and bonuses that I probably can't deliver anytime soon."

Come on, folks. Who said managers and employees always have to be realistic? During turbulent times, both personal and professional, most of us tend to retreat to our respective comfort zones. When we are nervous or feel unsure of ourselves, we often overcompensate by playing it safe; too safe. We automatically revert to whatever we've consistently excelled at in the past. And for most managers, that comfort zone would be managing within the constraints of what is currently considered reasonable.

There are five major roles or "hats" of management: technician, manager, architect, coach, and trailblazer. A detailed description of these management roles and their applications in the workplace are explained in detail in WrightWay's article: The Five Management Hats. The skinny is that the technician is the go-to expert; the person who has the capacity and the willingness to get the day-to-day work done quickly and correctly. The manager coordinates and controls resources, processes and timelines to ensure that the collective work of her team, department or company is accomplished most efficiently. The architect builds new structures, systems and processes for more effectively achieving continuing goals or for pursuing new ones. The trailblazer envisions new targets and generates the employee enthusiasm, commitment and cohesiveness to make progress toward the unknown, but believed in. And the fifth management role, the coach, encourages and guides employees to own the responsibility for their own progress and when their progress has slowed, to help determine for themselves how best to get back in gear.

All of the management hats are individually and collectively important, but wearing one management hat or combination of hats versus another may better contribute to the results that managers seek at any given time. In times like these, when markets are shaky, customers are more reticent to part with their purchasing dollars, and the future of many companies depends on the actions that their leaders and employees make today, managers are doing the exact opposite of what they should be doing. Managers are predictably, yet ineffectively retreating to their most well-worn and comfortable management hats.

When managers retreat to their comfort zones, which are often the roles of technician and manager, they are essentially saying to their employees, "We're a bit worried about the future. We hope that the market corrects, but in the meantime, we need to do whatever we can to boost our companies' product differentiation, customer satisfaction and profits so that we can survive this recession. And the way that we're going to do that is by hunkering down and continuing to do what we were doing before the recession. You need motivation? Well, promotions and alternative work arrangements aren't realistic. Instead, why don't you work toward the opportunity to keep your job? "

That hunker down and manage strategy may work in the very short term, but in order for companies, managers and employees to survive hardship ahead of where they were before the hardship, creating something of value must be at the forefront of the effort. And while creation has been known to occur in a void, in business it happens more often and with greater efficacy when creativity, flights of fancy, and unbridled curiosity are not only allowed, but fueled with encouragement and high expectations. This means trying on the trailblazer, coach or architect hat, rather than retreating to our less adventurous technician and manager hats. This means encouraging employees to push, pull and fly our struggling companies out of this recession with new ideas; not necessarily comfortable ones.

Now is the time for managers and employees to create the future that they want for their companies; for their careers; and for their families. For now, forget the constraints, dream big and start building. Even if it puts you on the hook for eventually delivering well-earned career perks for valuable employees who make your company's dreams a reality.

For our Atlanta readers, WrightWay is offering a special two-hour executive briefing, "Chief Executive Forum: Charting New Territories in Unprecedented Times" on Thursday, January 29, 2009. Please click on the title for additional information on this seminar or contact us at info@wrightwayconsulting for upcoming leadership webinars and seminars in your area.