Articles

Raising the Bar and Weary to go Person
by Dr. Lynne Curry

Question:
Three months ago, we had two employees leave and while we were sad to see them go, we saw it as an opportunity to “raise the bar” in our company. Most of our employees have been with us a long time and we’ve supervised them as if they’re friends and family. As a result, we’ve let a lot of things go that we probably should have addressed. For example, it’s nothing for our employees to ask to leave early for dental appointments or their kids’ soccer games and then for them to charge us for overtime the next day because they can’t get everything done. So, when we had turnover, we decided to hire a couple of new employees who seemed completely work oriented.

It worked. Our new employees are gung-ho. They work hard all day long, like their jobs, don’t make personal phone calls and act in every way as if they want to succeed at their jobs. Unfortunately, two or three of our longer-term employees seem to have it out for the new employees. They complain endlessly about the new crew to the other workers and have gone out of their way to make the new employees feel unwanted. We’ve tried talking with the longer-term employees and nothing we’ve said thus far has seemed to improve their attitudes. We even tried a team-building event but it bombed.

We’re concerned we might lose one or both of the new employees because they’re aware they’re not liked. Any ideas on what we can say to bring our old guard around or is this something that is relatively normal when you bring in new blood and things will get better in time?

Answer:
Resentment rarely fades with time. Before you lose either your recent hires or your longer-term employees, sit down with those who have complaints. In your meeting, you need to learn what upsets them and to address the concerns you have with how they’re acting.

When you first meet with the complainants, listen. Perhaps they see problems with the new hires you don’t. More likely, they didn’t see a problem with the way things were and feel devalued because the new hires outshine them. In any case, if you want these longer-term employees to be part of your company’s future and to work with and not against your new hires, listen to what they say. If they raise valid concerns, deal with the issues they raise.

Then, ask that they listen to you in return. Explain that you value them as long-term employees because they’ve contributed to the company’s growth and have skills and qualities you prize, but that you also value the two newest employees for their work ethic and habits. Tell them the truth, that you want to kick-start your company and that their endless complaining needs to stop. Ask them to put aside their personal issues with the new hires and to work with you and the new employees to make the company a success for everyone.

After the meeting, keep on eye on what happens. If the complainers make an effort, thank each one. If the complaints continue or move underground, realize your two to three long-term employees may have given you an “us or them” ultimatum. If so, make a choice – before you lose your chance to raise the bar.

Question:
Our company has doubled in size in the last year. Because I’m the longest-term employee, everyone comes to me for everything. If the toilet is stopped up or a vendor wants us to participate in a trade show, I get handed the question or problem. While I don’t mind helping out, this constant deluge of questions pulls me away from my core marketing duties. The chaos has really gotten intense in the past weeks as our receptionist is out on maternity leave and we’re all taking turns picking up the phone when it rings. Since I’m the one who knows most about what’s going on, many of the calls get routed to me and that means that callers first talk to the person that picks up the phone, next to me and then I route the call to the proper designation. I complained about this to the general manager and he suggested fix the problem by taking all incoming calls. Help – I don’t want to become the receptionist too.

Answer:
You took the risk that your manager would solve the problem in a way you didn’t like when you vented to him without offering a solution. Unless you want to become the temporary receptionist, give your manager a recommendation that fixes the real problem – your co-workers lack the knowledge needed to point callers toward the correct staff member.

Offer to develop a “go to” sheet that lists the names of all employees and their core responsibilities. For example, next to your name you might list, “longest term employee; handles all marketing questions.” By creating this list, you help all employees quickly route calls and questions to the right person.