What If I Told You There’s an Entirely Different Way to Manage People That Really Works. Would You Do It?
Posted on Tuesday, June 2, 2009 by Frank RocheWhat if I told you to throw away everything you ever learned from HR about managing people and told you to go back to what you know?
You already know how to do it. You knew it before there were rules. Here it is:
You work with adults. Treat them that way.
Hey, check this out. On the same day, Renegade HR and I talked about grownups. Very cool. Check out his article.
Angela Rao-Brown SPHR
Jun 2nd, 2009
Ah, if only it was that simple, Frank. We don’t work with (or for) adults a lot of the time. One example: two ‘adult’ men fist-fighting over a roll of toilet paper in the middle of a machine shop floor. Another: a group of men picking on and teasing a disabled vet who had a metal plate in his head. Adult? I think not.
Frank Roche
Jun 2nd, 2009
@Angela Well, here’s the adult thing…fire them. That simple. Do not pass go, do not collect $200.
Even if people act like idiots, we’re still not their parents. We can bring them in, have an adult-adult conversation that includes consequences of actions. Straighten up or you’re off the team. That is pretty simple to me. Idiots will always be idiots. Our job isn’t to parent them — it’s to make them go away and never return.
Angela Rao-Brown SPHR
Jun 2nd, 2009
@Frank Roche: …and that is exactly what was done. It’s kinda like that old saying: it’s hard to soar with eagles when you work with turkeys!
Frank Roche
Jun 2nd, 2009
@Angela I knew that was what you would do…that kind can’t stay…act like children, off you go. Be someone else’s problem! Good solution.
Michael VanDervort
Jun 3rd, 2009
Shouldn’t we consider another chance or two so that we know for sure they are really incapable of self-redemption?
wait
wait for it
Hell NO!
Frank Roche
Jun 3rd, 2009
@Michael LOL…you and I are cut from the same cloth. Um, “No” comes to mind. Buh-bye, don’t let the door hit in in the a** on the way out.
Ron Ulrici
Jun 5th, 2009
Okay, Frank… I know I shouldn’t be adding to something that is already perfect, but how about:
Hire adults, then treat them as adults.
I think we screw up sometimes by hiring children and we got to stop doing that.
Ron
Frank Roche
Jun 5th, 2009
@Ron, that is a worthy addition. You should write that one as a post and I’ll link to it here. Nice one!
Angela Rao-Brown SPHR
Jun 5th, 2009
This sounds all so nice but tell me how we know they are children prior to hiring? We check references, background, etc but one never knows until the employment honeymoon is over. In the end, Forrest Gump was right: life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re going to get.
Ron Ulrici
Jun 5th, 2009
Angela,
Good point. After all these years, we in HR can’t say that we definitely have broken the code on how to hire only good employees (mature adults). We may come close, but no cigar. And… the fact that we are still struggling with performance management, tells me that our profession hasn’t gotten “there” yet either.
These facts keep me humble.
Ron