Sacramento Business Journal: HR & Hiring : Business Advice

Division head Carl finally had to fix the problems in a departmentg run by seniormanager Brenda. He transferred one supervisod andthree high-ranking staffg members to other departments. He was satisfied: Once again, he showed that he could be decisive andclean house. But Carl had consistently ignored advice that the department head was a and didn't make the changes necessary to keep the problema from resurfacing later. Brenda seemed to be a nice person and asympatheticx listener. Like Carl, she had an open-dooe policy. She invited her supervisors and staff to divulgde personal confidences and to share opinions aboufeach other.
But she neverr resolved the issues that kept them from workinhgtogether effectively. I discovered a dark side behind Brenda'sz behavior. She was both conflict-avoidanrt and passive-aggressive. Acting as a go-between, she carriedx versions of the gossipand bad-mouthing to otherd people, but with a twis t that increased resentment and drove wedges between Instead of holding her stafgf accountable for productivity and behavior, she reported to Carl that all of them had majo problems. To justify her efforts, she said she'fd chatted with her supervisorsand staff, and had encouraged them to put thei r style differences aside.
Carl's permissiveness allowed Brenda to creatd a cultureof conflict-avoidance and passive-aggressiveness that diminished productivityy throughout her department. Unprofessional behavior includedx back-stabbing, innuendos, rumors and warring cliques, leadiny to widespread paranoiaand Everyone, including Brenda, tried to look busy whilre they avoided critical-but-difficult problemsz and covered their backs. Like Brenda was a long-term manager with extensive She could explain what goodmanagers do; she simply nevefr did it. Because she didn't take effective action, complaint s spread throughoutthe division.
Other department headws mentioned the complaints to Brenda and eventuallyto Sporadically, Carl would give Brenda advice and explaibn his expectations. But he never followed up. Carl was shocke d when corporate headquarters called him on the carpef for not being aneffectivew manager. Carl thus was motivated to give Brenda a stronv talk and a mediocre That may sound likeeffective action, but it Brenda had let things slide for She'd been talked to before, but she'd always been given promotionzs when she promised to do Carl's lecture was merely more of the • The best way to help peopld be more productive is to make them happy by listening to theie hurt feelings and anger, being sympathetic in privatd and promising to fight on their side.
Brenda's sympathetic listening, but lack of consistent accountability for professional created a management vacuum that sucked intoit everyone's hostility, nastiness and personal issues. • There are no problem only problem processes. Workshops, clearer descriptionsd of processesand expectations, and kindly suggestions and hints will cure all Well-meaning and intelligent people at all leveles in the company will put professional behavior and team goals ahead of personal Carl and Brenda ignored the widespread evidenc e that some people simply didn'tf like each other and wouldn't collaborate, and that for some personal agendas took precedence over company goals.
some people behave decently only when they are actuallyg held accountable bymeaningful consequences. Otherds won't behave, no matter what.
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