Management Secrets by Mary Elston

I have a terrific group of professional colleagues I network with on a consistent basis. We share ideas, war stories and moral support for all things we enjoy and endure in our careers. Not long ago, I met one of my networking friends for dinner. She had started a new job a few months ago and provided an update on how it was going …. In a word … bumpy. “Why?” I asked. Her new peers and co-workers were hazing her. You know – making it tough for her to get acclimated, giving her a hard time about small mistakes typically made by a newbie and escalating any of her minor infractions to her boss. You’re kidding?! No — even though this is stuff that should go on in high school and frat houses, it’s a reality in the workplace as well. Yes – some adults still get a kick out of making others miserable. Call it survival of the fittest, bullying, the thrill of conquering another or simply “hazing.”

As a manager, what should you do if someone you recently hired is being hazed by their peers? We’ll be working our way through this topic in this latest Management Secrets blog series. Our focus will center on making sure your new hire: has a quality experience with onboarding and understanding priorities and expectations, understands how to navigate the organization, and has your managerial support when hazing occurs.

Onboarding and expectations. We all know one of the toughest things about finding a new job is finding a good fit as well. Managers need to be diligent in the hiring process to do their best to find someone who meets the “fit” requirements; namely has the skills to do the job, will actually get the work done and will blend in well with the rest of the team and their cross-functional peers. Easy to say — challenging at times to accomplish. To help your new hire get off to a great start, you, the manager, need to spend time with them. Yes – that most precious of all commodities – time.

Provide your new hire with onboarding sessions (one, two or more meetings as needed) that clearly explain what their role is, what are their expectations and goals, what success looks like and how their performance will be measured. Make sure you provide them with an onboarding buddy as well which will help them safely ask all the dumb questions that come up for the new kid such as: How to file an expense account, what’s the best corporate cell phone plan and the like. Have your new person attend group training for new employees where they’ll find out where and how to access all the necessary resources needed for becoming a productive contributor.

These are great starting points which are centered on one theme: as a manager, YOU must make sure your new employee gets started off on the right foot. Don’t just throw the new kid in the ocean and expect them to swim … give them swimming lessons first. In my next blog installment we’ll talk about what happens when the “swimming” begins and your new hire starts navigating their way through the organization. I look forward to seeing you then.

My sister told me there was a surprising development at her office a few days ago. One of the Vice Presidents announced his impending departure. Are you kidding? In this economy? No, not at all. He was proactively approached by another company with a terrific offer and decided to take it. Even though many people continue to search for and find jobs there are others — particularly in the executive and leadership ranks — experiencing the gleeful opportunity of being courted to another position. If you’re a manager, how do you manage the impact of the exiting executive? That’s what my current blog series is all about. In my last installment we covered the internal impact of leaders who are leaving the company. In this final edition in this series, we’ll take a look at the external impact of this phenomenon. What do you need to take into account? How do you manage any external collateral damage from the executive’s departure? Let’s work our way through this now.

External Impact
Changes at the top create distraction. Don’t doubt for a minute that your competitor’s love it when your company is distracted by executive departures. In fact, this is often the time when many companies lose previously loyal customers – the biggest vulnerability when managing the external impact of departing leaders. While you are deciding your next move as the new leader or manager, competitors are having a great time wooing away your best customers. That brings us to two questions customers typically ask when an executive leaves a company.

The first question: How will this affect my service and the quality of the company’s products? Unfortunately, far too many new leaders come in and throw out the good with the bad – dumping service programs that were working well in favor of programs that may not be effective. Most customers consider service quality to be a significant factor in making a purchase decision. New leaders must always remember: When it comes to what’s keeping customers happy and is cost effective to provide, go ahead and make improvements but don’t fix what isn’t broken!

The second question customers ask when a CEO or other executive departs: Will my trusted sales or service contact stay on with the new leader or leave for another company? And add to that … Will the promises made to me by my former contacts still be honored under new management? Countless studies show that customers like to buy from people they trust; people who know and understand them. They want to make purchase decisions with sales persons that are knowledgeable and won’t rip them off. As the new leader, you need to make sure the integrity of the staff, sales and customer service force is maintained, and more importantly, that the trust customers have in those people is consistently reinforced. When executive shake ups occur, competitors are just as eager to steal star sales and service persons as they are to steal the customers those top performers may bring with them. The new leader must protect his team from being lured away by other dealers.

As you can readily appreciate, when a CEO or other executive leaves a company the new executive has his or her hands full. They must watch their flanks on both an internal and external basis, and above all, remember that satisfied and happy customers are of utmost importance, as are contented and appreciated employees. A quote from Edward Flom, CEO of Florida Steel provides another point worth noting …”One of the hardest tasks of leadership is understanding that you are not what you are, but what you’re perceived to be by others.” This is particularly true when a new leader takes on a high level post and people are watching their every move.

What should your goal be as the manager who is managing around an executive’s departure? Maintain the high quality of products and services which your customers expect to consistently receive. This will bolster the likelihood they’ll remain loyal, satisfied patrons of your company – the end game you’re always working to win.

Have you experienced any unique impact from a departing executive? Write to me and share your story as well as how you managed any related challenges. I’ll see you in a couple of weeks with another new Management Secrets series. *

*excerpted in part and reprinted from Mary Elston management column with permission from Soundings Publications, LLC.

As the job market continues to see-saw back and forth and find its footing, changes are starting to occur in the corner office. With improved business outlooks in selected sectors, executives are being recruited to other opportunities and finding the exit. In this Management Secrets blog series we’re looking at how you, the manager, should respond to executive changes and effectively manage the impact which comes with them. While there are many factors to consider when an executive departs, we’re going to approach them by looking at two impact categories: internal and external. Let’s explore the internal impact now.

Internal Impact
When a CEO or other leader leaves the company, what’s the first question every employee asks? Come on, you know. They ask: “How does this affect my job?” They’re concerned with job security and the new leader’s expectations. Anxiety can occur whether the new CEO is someone already with the company or someone from the outside; either way insecurity quickly begins raging. Compounding this effect is the trickle down changes a new CEO brings with them as they take a seat in their new chair. You know what that looks like too. New lieutenants begin appearing as the fresh leader brings in his or hers trusted team. This always creates a certain amount of uneasiness for employees which the manager must recognize and address through reassurance and open communication to the team.

If the former CEO was abrasive and had a negative leadership style, the really good people may already be heading for their next job at a competitor’s company. The new leader as well as you, the manager, needs to make sure they hang on to star performers and take steps to correct what may have prompted the desire to leave. Conversely, mediocre employees may be hanging back, hoping they won’t be noticed. The new leader must be cognizant of this factor too, determine who the slackers are, and take appropriate action.

That leads us to the second question employees ask when an executive departs: Why did he or she leave? Were they asked to go or did they quit? If a CEO or other leader was asked to leave it is usually involves one or all of three issues: a) money and how well they hit their performance targets for revenue, cost cutting, etc., b) people and how well they hired the right talent and managed their team and, c) politics. Whatever the reason for departure, if you’re the new leader or manager in charge, you must be sensitive to this and to employee’s feelings.

As the new person in charge you’ll want to thank the departing leader for his contribution, reassure employees as to your good intentions, and let the workforce know you are enthusiastic about your new position and new team. As the new executive you must always exhibit diplomacy and not disparage the departing leader. At the same time, as mentioned earlier, you must confidently, reassuringly, and frequently communicate with employees. You should immediately calm fears and uncertainty by coming across as knowledgeable and approachable and as a leader who appreciates your staff.

Just as important is another question that should be asked when an executive leaves: How will this change impact our customers? This is the external perspective we’ll look at in my next blog installment. See you then.*

*excerpted in part and reprinted from Mary Elston management column with permission from Soundings Publications, LLC.