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Why You Can't Let Go

by T. Scott  Gross    

The CEO of Harley Davidson made the point that when you empower idiots, you get bad decisions faster. He’s probably right. There is a lot that can be done to get your employees to bring their brains to work. There are two basic problems.

Problem number one: Letting loose of the reins.

Problem number two: Getting someone else to grab them!

Split the empowerment issue in half and a big chunk of the problem falls right into the lap of management. Face it. Not everyone in management is willing, or even wants, to turn in his keys to the fire truck. Jingling those keys, wearing the hat, driving at break-neck speed to the most recent two-alarm is thrilling!

So reason number one for not letting go: We like being the problem-solver who rides to the rescue and saves the day. Some of us like to think of ourselves as being totally indispensable. We folks haven’t taken a real vacation in years. We can’t. The world would collapse if we were out of pocket for more than 24 hours on a slow day. We wear beepers as badges of courage, little testosterone meters that hang from the belt.

Of course, we are the same folks who die early. We are also the worst managers in the business. How can we possibly claim to be running a business when it is clear that it is the business that is running us?

We are left to face the ugly truth that it is not easy to attract the most gifted, the most qualified, if we are working in an industry known for asking people to work long hours in tough environments often at wages that are hardly generous. Does this fairly well describe your business? If so, welcome to the club!

In a gajillion or so speaking engagements, I can hardly recall a client that hasn’t implied at least once that their industry was different, more difficult than the average bear. Bologna! (Or baloney!)

What if even 20 percent of your folks could and would make intelligent, customer-first decisions, the kind not covered in the operations manual? Would that translate into happier customers and less time spent by you putting out fires? Would that really make you unnecessary? Would you see it as a threat or a boost to your own job security? Could it possibly turn you into a hero of sorts and perhaps free you to do other things?

What supervisors need is an all-new perspective on their value to the company. The most valuable managers are those who are able to build teams that are capable of self management, sort of pro-active downsizing through leadership efficiency.

Truth number two: Not every employee is ready to accept empowerment. This can be a matter of training or simple psychological make-up.

Before you criticize your crew for failing to think, ask yourself what tools you have given them to support independent thinking. Employees who are unsure of your intentions, who do not believe that they really have your permission and encouragement to serve customers with abandon, are not about to get creative.

Worse is the possibility that you are smothering them under a blanket of policies and procedures so thick that even those areas not specifically covered by policy are treated as though a policy exists, somewhere.

Ask yourself what evidence your employees might have that you would support them if they stepped out of the box - and failed. Some folks never stray out of the box of conventional thinking and strict adherence to policy because sticking to "That’s our policy" and "That’s the way we’ve always done it" is much safer. (Notice that this is particularly true for older employees who may be closer to retirement and see absolutely no self-interest in risk-taking.)

One first step to empowerment is hiring people who will, with training, willingly take risks when it comes to pleasing customers. Oh! You thought you were the one taking the risk? Not even!

When an employee is faced with an opportunity to openly defy corporate policy or even old tradition, you can bet they are thinking less about the consequences for the company and plenty about what could fall down around their shoulders. It is the employee who must be the risk-taker in a partnership with the boss, the trust-giver. This empowerment stuff can be quite a stretch for everyone!

Not everyone will accept empowerment. No matter what kind of environment you create, it’s not reasonable to expect that everyone will automatically jump on the bandwagon and put customers over policy. This is the simple yet sticky matter of having some employees who just aren’t interested. These folks have to go.

Sorry! Even in a market where it is tough to find qualified employees, you have to face the fact that folks who will not accept responsibility simply cannot be left in charge of anything. They are not qualified for the job you are offering.

For the vast majority of employees who are sitting on the fence considering whether or not you are serious about allowing them to make decisions, know this: They come to you with a history that probably does not support independent thinking. We tend to complain about not being able to find trained people when the fact remains that no matter who we hire, they are trained when we get them. New hires come to us trained to do a jillion things, most of which we would rather they not do!

In previous jobs they may have been trained that it’s okay to show up late or call in sick at the last moment. They may have been trained to avoid making decisions because a mistake could bring down the wrath of the corporate gods. They may have been trained that corporate folks talk about quality and service but when push comes to shove, it is short-term profits that count the most.

Employees who, in previous lives, were clobbered for "wasting" an over-done hot dog or granting a refund on the 31st day without a receipt, are not about to risk stepping out of the box just because you whipped up a trendy new mission statement that tells them to put people first. No, this empowerment thing is going to take some time. But you can do it. It’s worth the effort. Your employees will love you. Your customers will thank you. Your family will get used to having you at home.


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T. Scott Gross. All right reserved. For information contact Frog Pond at 800.704.FROG(3764) or email susie@frogpond.com.