Is Your Company Performance - Blind?

Nice guys finish last.  We've all heard that phrase before, right?  Which probably means that there's something to it.

Now why is that?

Because . . . we've seen it happen, haven't we? - again and again.

In the business world all too often the steady and reliable performers, those who follow the rules, who stay on the right side of ethical dilemmas and controversy, the "nice guys" that every manager would like to have on their team - they can come up short when recognition and rewards are being passed about.  They may not fall into last place as the adage goes, but they often don't gain the credit, the respect and recognition, the rewards to the extent that the "bad boys" do.

Bad boys?  You know them.  Those who at first glance deliver results; however, there always seems to be a "but" or an asterisk accompanying their success.  Annoying little caveats that tend to be pushed aside.

You've seen this scene play out time and time again - where these "Golden Ones", "Favored Sons" or "Teflon Jacks" are recognized, even admired by senior leadership, even though their pedestal may be built on a shifting pile of sand.

Life isn't fair, the pundits say - but come on!  Are they blind out there?  How many times have you seen the following script play out?

• Personal behavior is ignored and only results are recognized.  This could be arrogance, or unprofessionalism, or even worse.  Employees in this category think of themselves first and foremost, president-for-life of their own fan club.  They are not team players.

• Management beats the drum of "results, not effort" so hard that soon few seem to care how results were achieved.  Just make the sale - or else tomorrow you'll be history.

• Quantifiable metrics (add up the numbers) outweigh an individual's style, leadership, ethics, and professionalism.  The focus is more on quarterly results than building for long term success.

• Those who are "connected" (who you know, not what you know) don't receive the same scrutiny of their efforts that the rest of us do

Do employees see you turn a blind eye to how results were achieved?  They do notice, you know.

Does your management really care if an employee leaves bodies strewn across the corridor on the way to their own personal success?  What does that say about the priorities of the organization, and how they value people?  Does that culture become visible outside the company?  Does that environment become an impediment to attracting the right caliber of people?

Yes, it does - on all counts.  And over time the organization will slowly evolve in a manner that is ultimately harmful to the business.

• External recruiters may change their mind about recommending the organization to otherwise qualified candidates.  When the whispers on the street begin, recruiters take notice.

• As your bread-and-butter contributors see how the organization's performance-blindness hampers their own career progress, engagement and productivity start to slacken.

• A natural corollary to lower engagement is higher turnover.  The first to go would be those with the most options, those whose performance record would be appreciated elsewhere.

All this is avoidable, of course.  But it takes a certain amount of courage to challenge one of the favored sons.  Especially if your plan is to instead recognize one of the less flashy, steady-eddies you may have in abundance.

So take off the blindfolds and recognize those who are day in and day out helping to move the company forward.  They are the team players.  They are the ones who say "we."  Your employees know who these winners are.  It would help your organization if you do too.

Chuck Csizmar CCP is founder and Principal of CMC Compensation Group, providing global compensation consulting services to a wide variety of industries and non-profit organizations.  He is also associated with several HR Consulting firms as a contributing consultant.  With over 30 years Rewards experience Chuck is a broad based subject matter expert with a specialty in international and expatriate compensation.  He lives in Central Florida (near The Mouse) and enjoys growing fruit and managing (?) a brood of cats. 

Image courtesy of HikingArtist.com

Comments

[Andy]

Too true @ my place of employment

[Derek Irvine, Globoforce]

Brilliant post, Chuck. It's the argument of what you recognize employees for -- demonstrating your STATED values or your TOLERATED values. Companies like to think they focus on recognizing and rewarding employees when they demonstrate "teamwork," or contribute to "quality," or show "integrity," (the STATED values) when in reality -- as you say -- they're rewarding only "delivering the numbers at any cost".

All that serves to do is reinforce deviant behavior. Do you really want these "behavior outliers" to influence the entire culture of your organization? If that's what you're recognizing, then yes, that's what you're staking your company's future on.