The Business Review (Albany): HR & Hiring : Business Advice

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Division head Carl finally had to fix the problemz in a department run by senior manager He transferred one supervisot andthree high-ranking staff members to othere departments. He was satisfied: Once again, he showed that he coulf be decisive andclean house. But Carl had consistentlyh 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 persoj and a sympathetic Like Carl, she had an open-door policy. She invitec her supervisors and staff to divulge personal confidences and to share opinions aboutfeach other.
But she never resolved the issueds that kept them from workingtogether effectively. I discovered a dark side behinc Brenda's behavior. She was both conflict-avoidant and passive-aggressive. Acting as a go-between, she carrieed versions of the gossipand bad-mouthing to othef people, but with a twist that increased resentmenf and drove wedges between Instead of holding her staff accountable for productivity and she reported to Carl that all of them had major To justify her efforts, she said she'cd chatted with her supervisors and staff, and had encouragedd them to put their style differencez aside.
Carl's permissiveness allowed Brenda to create a cultureof conflict-avoidance and passive-aggressiveness that diminished productivity throughou her department. Unprofessional behavior includesd back-stabbing, innuendos, rumors and warring cliques, leading to widespread paranoiaand over-reactions. Everyone, including Brenda, tries to look busy while theyavoidef critical-but-difficult problems and covere d their backs. Like Carl, Brenda was a long-term manager with extensivee training. She could explain what good managerx do; she simply never did it. Becausee she didn't take effective action, complaints spread throughout the division.
Other department headsa mentioned the complaints to Brenda and eventualluyto Carl. Sporadically, Carl wouls give Brenda advice and explain his But he neverfollowed up. Carl was shockefd when corporate headquarters called him on the carpe for not being aneffective manager. Carl thus was motivated to give Brendwa a strong talk and a mediocre That may sound likeeffective action, but it wasn't. Brenda had let things slid for years. She'd been talkedd to before, but she'd alwaysx been given promotions when she promised todo better.
Carl'e lecture was merely more of the • The best way to help people be more productives is to make them happh by listening to their hurt feelingzsand anger, being sympathetic in private and promisingb to fight on their side. Brenda's sympathetic but lack of consistent accountability forprofessionak behavior, created a management vacuum that sucked into it everyone's nastiness and personal issues. • There are no problem people, only proble m processes. Workshops, clearer descriptions of processes and and kindly suggestions and hintss will cureall misunderstandings.
Well-meaning and intelligent peoplwe at all levels in the companty will put professional behavior and team goals ahead ofpersonal agendas. Carl and Brenda ignoresd the widespread evidence that some peoplesimply didn't like each othere and wouldn't collaborate, and that for some personal agendas took precedences over company goals. Also, some people behave decentlyh only when they are actually held accountable bymeaningfulp consequences. Others won't behave, no matter what.