Employee Engagement Kiss of Death – Ignoring Performance Issues

By Michelle Malay Carter on July 24, 2009 

It\'s All LinkedSubodinating the Moment for the Greater Goal
Since my kids don’t read my blog, I have to admit that there are times when I pretend not to see rule violations in my home, because I don’t have the energy to deal with them.? However, if it is obvious that I have witnessed an infraction, I like to believe I’m on it.? What is the alternative – a slippery slope to anarchy.

Managerial Leadership Requires Courage
I’ve said 100 times that trust and fairness are precursors to employee engagement.? If managers turn their backs on issues, EVERYTHING breaks down.

What managers are saying by this abdication of their performance management leadership duty is:

-The rules apply only some times.
-The rules apply to only some people.

Try gaining accountability in an arbitrary environment like that.

Try gaining consistency in an arbitrary environment like that.

Try gaining quality in an arbitrary environment like that.

Try gaining engagement in an arbitrary enviroment like that.

Ever worked in an enviroment like that?

I’m OK.? You’re OK.? Let’s fix the system.

Filed Under Accountability, Corporate Values, Employee Engagement, Managerial Leadership, Requisite Organization, Talent Management

Comments

11 Responses to “Employee Engagement Kiss of Death – Ignoring Performance Issues”

  1. marcelino on July 27th, 2009 10:27 pm

    Saying you are top of it; and actually doing something about it are two different things. Procrastinating solves nothing while the problem continue to grow.

  2. Michelle Malay Carter on July 28th, 2009 6:10 am

    Hi Marcelino,

    Thanks for visiting and for the comment. I agree.

    Michelle

  3. Rodney Cooley on July 30th, 2009 9:15 pm

    This is so true. As a supervisor, I’ve had to work with employees on performance issues, and I had to be sure that everyone was treated the same. Having that in place helped to build a better team in the long run.

  4. Jack Fallow on July 31st, 2009 4:50 pm

    Michelle,

    Often, we understand our leaders best when we know what they will NOT tolerate. This problem also rolls into our thinking about culture. In my experience, the definition of culture as ‘How we do things around here’ is highly misleading. I find it more accurately stated as ‘How we do things and how we DONT do things around here’.
    CS Lewis called ‘courage’ – the master virtue. In its absence, we have all the problems that you highlight

  5. Michelle Malay Carter on August 2nd, 2009 11:34 am

    Hi Rodney and Jack,

    Thank you for your comments. Jack, yes I think you are on to something with the not tolerated train of thought, and yes, I agree about the courage comment. I would add self-discipline as well. This is the one I’m more likey to lack.

    Michelle

  6. Jan Brockway on August 3rd, 2009 12:59 pm

    Michelle, I think you hit the nail on the head with this post. For several years, I mentored managers at a Fortune 500 company and would discuss with them performance and engagement issues. In so many cases, they knew the issue but were afraid of addressing it. Overcoming that fear and realizing the impact of doing nothing is worse than any result of the conversation is eye-opening to managers.

  7. Deborah Exo on August 5th, 2009 12:02 pm

    Michelle, agree with everything you have posted. Addressing performance issues is even more important now because staffs are so lean and everyone is doing “more more with less less”. And corporations can lose their best talent when mediocre performance and/or non-performance are not dealt with…top talent watches and immediately recognizes that their talent and hard work will not be recognized and rewarded so they go elsewhere.

  8. Karen Owens Drake on August 6th, 2009 9:46 am

    Michelle, as the mother of two sons, I love your analogy. I have coached numerous leaders and marveled at the lengths that some will go through to avoid “hurting the poor performer’s feelings.” That infamous “rescuer-victim-persecutor” triangle really plays out with the most well-meaning managers. Coaching for Emotional Intelligence is critical, now, more than ever. I’d like to continue conversation with practitioners working with leaders around EI and Social Intelligence.

  9. Michelle Malay Carter on August 6th, 2009 5:19 pm

    Hi Jan,

    Thanks for the comment. Yes, it takes courage to address issues. If this expectation is implemented within a broad, requisite organization system, managers are accountable to address these issues. If they do not, now they become the performance issue. We’ve got to move from pieces and parts to a system.

    Regards,

    Michelle

  10. Michelle Malay Carter on August 6th, 2009 5:21 pm

    Hi Deborah,

    Thanks for stopping by. You are absolutely right. When you violate trust, it smells, and it smells quickly. High potentials tend to have the most options so they will leave first. Thanks for the comment.

    Regards,

    Michelle

  11. Michelle Malay Carter on August 6th, 2009 5:28 pm

    Hi Karen,

    Thanks for the comment. Nothing turns up the pressure cooker more than dysfunctional systems. I think developing emotional intelligence is an important thing to do. I think we could get by with much lower thresholds of emotional intelligence if we stepped back, observed, and corrected the inherent conflicts of interests embedded in most workplaces. Thanks for stopping by.

    Regards,

    Michelle