Since the recession hit, one of the few businesses making bank has been the survey business. Okay, maybe "bank" isn't the best word to use anymore, but suffice it to say they're keeping busy.

One survey says that at the top of the list of business leaders' concerns is how to get more out of their workers. Writers must be hooked into the surveys because they keep writing about ways to crack down and push employees harder. One recent piece was dedicated to getting results from mid-year performance reviews specially called to let employees know it's serious.

Funny thing, most everyone I know is trying to figure out how to get enough business to give workers something to do. Getting more work done doesn't solve that problem. Maybe the advocates of cracking down are misdirected. There are times to get tough, but pushing people to do more of what they have little to do seems to miss the mark.
Several months ago an employee in a small manufacturing division of a Fortune 500 company learned that projected sales had hit a wall with nothing coming in the next quarter. Being fairly astute he had a general sense of what was already moving through the pipeline. Based on his estimates he figured that within three to four months the plant would be out of work.

The following weekend, he mentioned the problem to a friend who happened to work in the supply chain department of a large company in town. The friend said he knew his employer had no contracts with the manufacturer, but would be interested in a possible deal since their suppliers were unreliable and they had several product lines that could use the parts. He gave the employee the contact information for the buyers and told him to have his company's sales people call the following week.

A few days later, the employee bumped into the manager of the sales department and gave him the details of the conversation about the possible buyer. Instead of being excited about the opportunity, the manager lit up like a stoplight blurting out "Don't you think we know what we're doing?" And, "You need to worry about your job and stop worrying about others!"

Of course, the employee dropped the subject and tossed the paper with the buyer contact information into the trash on his way back to his desk. Sure enough, within a couple of months layoffs began. Apparently, contrary to his personal opinion, the sales manager didn't know what he was doing. Ironically, it wasn't the sales manager—the one who was holding back sales—who was let go. It started with line workers in the plant and eventually spread to the employee who was trying to help.

Granted, the sales manager's reaction could simply have been the result of a popped stress control bubble from the pressure of trying to keep sales up. But he never did follow up on the suggestion, and now the plant operates a single shift about every other week.

Is the pain sufficient for the leader to get tough? It should be. It isn't that workers aren't motivated enough. It's that managers are more concerned about looking good and hiding their failures than accepting all the help they can get for the survival of the plant.

A company that manufactures fencing products is taking a different approach. The CEO has kept employees informed on sales and order figures and encouraged them to become lead generators for the sales department. While they may not be the most sophisticated sales people, they have friends and relatives who know people which expands the sales force tremendously. Every little bit of work that comes in helps. For them, it's not a time to be selfish and proud. It's a time to be effective.

The fencing manufacturing leader didn't need to get tough. He just needed to be focused. His team was already working well together and had the attributes to succeed. Our Fortune 500 company wasn't as fortunate, however. Its problems ran deep and wouldn't be solved with more motivated workers. For them, it's time for the leader to get tough. And he should start where it can make the most difference: with his management team.

Trying it on for fit: Evaluate your organization on how well it's capitalizing on every possible opportunity. Are your managers really doing everything they can to improve profitability? Or do some operate like the sales manager who excluded everyone else from contributing? Are all employees treated and developed like the business people they need to be? Do you tap their front-line experiences for opportunities to enter new markets, develop new products or services, and serve the customer better? Do your managers manage effectively? Or is their success determined by who happens to be on their team? Are you allowing internal power plays to occur in the organization? Be willing to have the tough conversations with managers who aren't doing all they need to do to fully and effectively tap the organization's resources for the success of the whole.

Send an email and let me know what you learn from your experiences. I would love to hear from you!





Kevin Herring is co-author of Practical Guide for Internal Consultants, and President of Ascent Management Consulting. Kevin can be contacted at kevinh@ascentmgt.com.
Ascent Management Consulting is found at www.ascentmgt.com and specializes in workgroup and business unit performance turnarounds through breakthrough leadership, workplace cultures and organization systems.


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