The Dilemma of the Tenured Employee

The other day I was trimming the landscape of several plants that had outgrown their space (in Florida everything grows, all year long) when my wife asked me, why are you cutting down those plants?  They look nice and the blossoms have a sweet scent.  Can't we keep them?

They were ginger plants, and true enough they were pretty and did smell nice - but they had also overgrown the area where we had planted them.  Slowly spreading outward, they were crowding out other plants and starting to transform our attractively designed landscape into what would soon become an overgrown jungle.   The plants were no longer providing the same value to us as they had done for several years previous.  It was time to cut back or cut out.

Which got me thinking; how hard is it for managers to tell someone "it's time to go"?  Sometimes employees stay too long at a particular job, year after year racking up higher pay levels while not really delivering more in terms of performance than they did the previous year.  You find them performing the same activities, repeatedly - but for increasing pay.

Reliable workers?  Good workers?  Yes.  Expensive?  Yes, to that, too.  Is their value to you increasing?  Perhaps not.

After a while you will start to realize that, while good old reliable Bob is doing a fine job, someone else can perform that same job for a lot less money.  So, what do you do with Bob?

Ignore him?

Think about it.  If a loaf of bread is priced at $2.00, would you be comfortable with paying $3.00?  Or even $2.50?  For the same product, the same taste?  Would you consider that additional expense well worth it?  Or would you start searching the store shelves for a loaf of bread that costs less and tastes the same?

Creating the Problem

How did you get into this fix, having long serving and overpriced employees on your staff, stuck in the same job, year in and year out? 

The answer is often simple and straightforward; because they are comfortable, to the point where they see no reason to change the status quo.

• They like it here; they like the job, their co-workers, the work environment.  They like everything about their situation.
• They know everything about the job(s), as well as the company, and so the stress level is not a concern, and they feel able to focus less effort to do the job.  They could do it in their sleep.
• They are comfortable doing what they do and have little motivation to do more.  They are not compelled to break out of their mold.  They do not see themselves as being in a rut, but comfortably situated.
• The pay is good, or at least satisfactory, so why leave and start fresh somewhere else - where they would have to prove themselves all over again?  To this way of thinking job search is a real bother, stressful too, and should be avoided until necessary.

That is why some employees stay in the same job, content to remain on their own private treadmill.  It works for them.  But why do their managers allow this problem to develop?

A Management Issue

Why are some managers reluctant to act with these employees; to cut them off or promote them up and out?  Because many times taking such actions is not perceived as being in the best interest of the manager.  And there lies the rub.

• The cost and headache of obtaining a replacement; the time it would take, the disruption to schedules, the added stress.
• More work would be created for themselves, filling in for planned projects that still must be completed; their timelines may be negatively impacted.
• The perceived damage to the manager's reputation (employees have quit them), and leadership is watching - and perhaps wondering, why?

What is a manager to do, then?  Moving someone along when there isn't a performance problem is a tough decision to make and to implement.  Though sometimes it's the right thing to do, both for the company and for the employee.

• Encourage employees to learn and grow within the company - preparing themselves for better positions.
• Be open to losing an employee to another department, one that may be able to better utilize their capabilities.  Holding on to someone too long does not help either party.
• Managers should expect and demand continued and improved contributions from all their employees, no sitting back and coasting.
• Managers should plan to move employees up or move them out as part of managing an evolving staff.

Ask yourself, where is the balance - of contribution provided (performance) versus value paid out (compensation)?  When the balance tips too far in either direction, it's time for action.  When an employee recognizes that there is more contribution on their part than value received (more work for less money), they look for the exit.  However, when the manager sees that there is more value (reward) provided than continuing performance contribution, perhaps it is time to consider moving such employees along.

I'm just saying, the day will come - for some employees.  When it does, will you recognize that it is time to pull the plug?

Chuck Csizmar CCP is the 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.  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 clowder of cats.

Creative Commons image "Skeletons," by Chris Charles

Comments

[Kent O]

Chuck, Good article and yes (to a point) I agree with your premise; but as is the case with most things this is pretty nuanced topic. Companies NEED BOTH the superstar and the steady employee who focuses on the non-glamorous things that still need to be done -- the "blocking and tackling" so to speak activities. They need longer term employees with history and they need new thinking. The most successful teams typically have a mix -- everyone knowing their role. Some superstars but also some "tenured employees" as you mention here. Remember the Fab five from Michigan basketball in the early 90's? They never won a championship.