Ineffective Leadership Affects Everyone
I believe that the manager or the person responsible for making changes in policy is one of the most important people in an organization. The people that fill these positions need to be aware of the tasks that each of their employees has to perform and have a clear and absolute understanding of how their decisions and changes in policy affect how the employees will be able to perform their jobs. I think that managers often make decisions from a standpoint that does not consider how these changes will affect the people at the working level of an organization.
About three years ago I encountered a situation with management that I can recall vividly to this day. One extreme case of ineffective management was one of the only jobs that I ever left because conditions were terrible and I no longer wanted to remain with that organization. I have left jobs because I was joining the Air Force or my school load would be 18 credits and I could not work as well, but I have only left one job because of ineffective management. I would like to add at this point that I have never been fired from any company nor been subject to any form of disciplinary action in order to communicate that I am a valuable employee and can tolerate following instructions willingly. The new director at the organization was the reason that I left this particular job. She began her first week by firing employees that had worked there for over eight years and even one that had been there for twenty-three years. This spread panic within the staff and I truly believe that no one’s job was safe. This however did not bother me at first. Sure, I felt sorry for those that had been there a long time but I felt like she must have had a reason for doing what she was doing. It was within the second week that I began to realize that she had no intention of displaying any concern for her staff. Policies on bonus compensation were changed and holiday pay was changed in such a way that no one understood how it worked. I remember management introducing some additional rule every day at the morning meetings. I thought that the worst part is that management was not even behind the director. They would be sure to let us know that this was what the director ordered as they rolled their eyes. I began to see people quit and more and more fear and panic as the next week went by. I thought that it was funny how a new director was hired and I saw a decrease in productivity from management and lower level employees. The director then introduced an idea via the managers that there would be more cuts and more focus on making the positions volunteer positions and they would cut the number of paid positions. Within three weeks she had spread panic and shown her face only one time.
While I see the business value of these decisions for profitability, I feel that it was done in the worst way. She spread fear rather than an understanding of how this would benefit the organization’s vision. I know that many people felt she was a coward for having the management tell us when we were doing things wrong and not showing up herself to announce the changes that would be made. She also made no effort to make herself available to address our concerns during a time of great change and a lack of understanding amongst the staff. It was clear to me that she was not an effective manager.
In the end I ended up jumping ship after I found a better paying job. I had come to a point where I noticed we were being assigned more and more tasks and were expected to do them in less and less time. I found myself staying late for $8 per hour and there was no incentive to work nine to ten hours a day for $8. I found another job for $12 per hour and decided that the other company also treated their employees better.
My advice to any manager or director in charge of making policy changes is that you do it with a desire to communicate a vision so that your employees are on board. Make yourself available for feedback and to ease their fear during the major transitions. By being a hands-on manager, you will be able to transition without compromising employee motivation and productivity
Typical slash and burn technique. Such behavior from new incoming management only exposes their insecurities. They feel threatened by those with more knowledge and experience so they replace the veterans with rookies that will always know less than the manager. Such organizations usually suffer from a massive brain-drain and end up taking a long time to recover. Good story Brigette.
Thanks for you comment.