In his book, Good to Great, Jim Collins stresses that an important means for companies to become extraordinary is to choose the right people. But as Collins points out, too many organizations allow incompetent or disobedient employees -- workers he calls the wrong people on the bus -- to obstruct their company's road to greatness. These troublesome employees cause leaders to impose highly stringent rules. In turn, the added restrictions frustrate many good employees and prompt them to leave. As a result, problem workers make up a larger percentage of the organization's workforce, leading management to enact even more rules.

Not surprisingly, Collins found that companies willing to deal with their poor performers are able to avoid this deadly spiral.

Perhaps you've been avoiding the unpleasant task of tossing some "wrong people" off your organization's bus. If so, you're not alone. Firing workers is gut-wrenching work. Besides, you want to give people every opportunity to succeed. But as the following story illustrates, delaying the inevitable might be as detrimental to your problem employees as it is to your organization.

Many years ago, on the morning of my first day at a new job, I boarded a city bus for the twenty-minute commute downtown. There was a bus stop right outside our apartment building and another one just across from my new office. So, I decided to forgo the downtown parking hassles and take the No. 5 bus to and from work. My morning ride went off without a hitch.

After work, I once again hopped aboard the No. 5 for what I expected would be a quick trip home. To my surprise, about three blocks from our apartment, the bus driver turned off our street and headed in a new direction. Because the bus had made some short loops around several neighborhoods along the way, I wasn't overly concerned at first. It was just a matter of time before we returned to my street and reached my stop. Or so I thought.

One by one, my fellow passengers all disembarked while the bus traveled further and further from my home. Finally, the bus driver pulled over to the curb. "This is the end of the line, pal," the driver said to me. "My next stop is the garage. You have to get off."

I explained to the driver how I thought he would be passing my apartment. After all, I had boarded the No. 5 in front of my place just this morning. "That's my morning route. In the afternoon, you need to take the 5A." And with that, he left me on the sidewalk, five miles from home.

As I searched for a payphone to call my wife and ask her to come and retrieve her off-course husband, I remember wishing someone had told me that I was on the wrong bus.

Like your wayward workers, I thought I understood where my bus was headed. And even when it became increasingly clear that the No. 5 was going another direction, I tried to convince myself that everything would work out eventually. Had I known sooner that I was on the wrong route, I could have saved myself some frustration and embarrassment.

The moral of the story is simple: If you have some wrong people on your bus, do them -- and yourself -- a favor by making it clear that they'll never reach their hoped-for destination in your organization. Bookmark this post on del.icio.us

"Many of those who remain after downsizing are stricken with survivor's guilt. Others are filled with an enormous amount of anxiety, assuming that it is only a matter of time before the other shoe drops." John Challenger

There are few leadership tasks more gut wrenching than laying workers off during business downturns. What could be harder than putting people on the street when jobs are in short supply? If you have any kindness in you, you'll feel badly for those you've had to displace. As it turns out, those employees who are spared from layoffs need your compassion, too.

"Companies use the word affected with people who lose their jobs -- the implication being that the people who remain aren't," says Joel Brockner, a professor of management at Columbia Business School. "They're very much affected."

And when workers are affected, their employers are, too. According to a survey by Challenger, Gray & Christmas, companies undergoing downsizing efforts face tough challenges in keeping surviving employees engaged and focused. Fifty-four percent of HR executives cited maintaining employee engagement as their biggest challenge after conducting layoffs. Another large concern, according to 23 percent of respondents, is easing anxiety among surviving workers that additional layoffs might be imminent.

And then there’s the guilt.

Psychologists note that workers who avoid the downsizing ax experience mixed emotions, ranging from the initial relief of keeping their jobs to the feeling of guilt over their good fortune. What's more, anxiety that more job cuts are coming and the burden of taking on additional workloads can lead some workers to actually envy their former coworkers.

As a leader, be aware that your role in layoffs doesn't end once you've pass out the pink slips. Columbia's Brockner recalls a conversation with a bank executive who boasted about the company's generous severance package. "I said, 'That's great. What have you done for the people who have remained?'"

"It is an unfortunate situation to be in, but the way companies handle it -- particularly the way they deal with surviving employees -- can make it significantly better or worse," says John Challenger, CEO of Challenger, Gray & Christmas. "You cannot simply tell employees to 'do more with less.' There must be a back-and-forth dialogue to address employees' concerns and fears."

According to Challenger, surviving employees want leaders to be straight with them. "Honesty is the best policy; employees deserve up-front communication when it comes to the state of the company and their jobs," he says.

When economics dictate that you let people go, do it as compassionately as possible. And don't forget to take care of your survivors.

Labels: business, employees, leadership, management

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