Leading People With Courageous Honesty

I could sense the urgent call coming in before my phone rang.  The called ID said it was Nathan Pedrick (not his real name). Nathan’s the Number 2 guy over at DVS Manufacturing, an employer of 200 people, and someone I’m coaching.  Nathan was almost shaking with anger as he spoke. “Hank, remember Lucile Jones (not her real name), the woman from QC who we let go in a reduction in force last June? She is suing us! Discrimination and unlawful termination. Can you freaking believe it?”    

Nathan’s company did have a reduction in force last June.  The claimant stated that her three-year employment with DVSM was terminated because she was female, and over 50.  She stated that her work record was impeccable, having consistently been rated above average on DVSM’s annual performance evaluations.  The six other people laid off with her had been offered re-employment but she was not.  All six were male and under 40.  She scored better on her performance evaluations than five of the six former employees who were re-hired.

This is the kind of nightmare situation that every senior leader dreads.  Regardless of whether or not the employer has wrongfully terminated an employee for the reasons claimed, the costs and disruption are immense:

• Attorney’s and court fees
• Time required to research, provide documents and policies, prepare a defense, and litigate
• Damage to the employer’s reputation and the subsequent negative impact on employees and customers
• Fines and penalties (or settlements) if the case is lost or settled out of court
• Remediation and compliance costs to prevent future violations, if a violation is found
• The opportunity cost of the time and resources consumed by litigation

Autopsy of What Actually Happened

After meeting with Nathan, DVSM’s HR director, and Lucile’s former supervisor, I got a clearer picture of what had happened.  Lucile was the kind of employee who was difficult to manage.  She knew the system and pushed hard around the edges to do as little as possible to meet the minimums.  She was capable of doing good work… but only when she wanted to.  Whenever confronted with any deficiency in her work, Lucile would get angry and claim that she was being treated unfairly.  Her former supervisor said she got tired of Lucile pushing back every time and figured that the best way to deal with her was to not confront her. 

When it came to performance evaluations, Lucile would argue loudly that “I’m the best person DVSM has, and damn lucky to have me.”  Lucile’s supervisor got tired of fighting Lucile on every score so she rated her above average, which seems to appease Lucile.  To make matters worse, Lucile’s supervisor had no documentation to support Lucile being anything other than an above-average employee.

DVSM’s layoff provided the opportunity to exit Lucile without having to focus on her deficiencies as an employee.  There was no way that Lucile would be hired back, as difficult as she was to manage. 

The Root of the Problem

What the court would see was an above average-performing female employee over 50 not re-hired when lesser performing under-40 male employees were re-hired.  Lucile had the documentation to back her up.

What the court should have seen through Lucile’s documented performance record was an under-performing employee not offered re-hire because of a poor performance record and a history of being difficult to manage. 

Why did it wind up being a major headache for DVSM?  Because Lucile’s supervisor lacked the honest courage to address Lucile’s performance and behavior issues as they happened.

A Call for Honest Courage

In any organization, an effective leader best displays his or her honest courage not by the bold risks taken and aggressive programs implemented, but by the honesty with which he or she delivers feedback to his or her staffers.  It takes courage to look someone in the eye and respectfully deliver the feedback he or she needs to hear, especially when that feedback requires and employee to address his or her performance and behavioral shortcomings.

What if several years earlier:

• Lucile’s supervisor, upon observing Lucile’s performance and behavior, immediately gave her feedback on what he was doing well AND not so well?
• Lucile’s supervisor described each performance and behavioral standard and why it had to be consistently met or exceeded?
• Lucile’s supervisor described what she observed in Lucile’s performance and behavior relative to the standards, and described the difference between her actual performance and behavior compared to the standard and how that difference impacted the unit, positively or negatively?
• Lucile’s supervisor problem-solved with Lucile to address all her performance and behavioral shortcomings?
• Lucile’s supervisor accurately and fairly held Lucile accountable for meeting all of her performance standards?
• Lucile’s supervisor scored Lucile’s performance evaluation with the scores she merited, provided specific examples to support her scores, and required Lucile to address her shortcomings in a timely manner?

It’s quite likely that Lucile’s career track would have turned out very differently because Lucile’s supervisor would have had the honest courage to nip her unacceptable behavior and performance in the bud.  And DVSM would have avoided the costs of defending themselves in a lawsuit.  Who knows – if managed properly, Lucile could have become the above average performer she thought herself to be.

Bottom Line

Performance and behavioral shortcomings never get better with age.  When a supervisor or manager applies honest courage to help his or her employees to meet and exceed expectations, and holds them accountable, everyone wins.  Everyone loses when he or she doesn’t.

This post is taken from the best practices taught in our award-winning leadership development programs,  Leading Through People™ 6 – Performance Management, and Leading Through People™ 7 – Conducting Meaningful Performance Evaluations.

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