A hard working co-worker came up to me today, getting ready to leave the building in a hurry, coat in hand, and a full hour before normal shift end. I had to ask “Are you Ok?” and quickly followed that up with; “Is it anything I can help with?” With a quick blink of very teary red eyes and a weak smile, “No… thanks, E.” was all they said, before producing work keys checked out this morning were returned to me, logged in, punched out and out the doors was gone? Hope you get the same feeling something could be wrong…as I just did.
I want to chase after, but could not go, Not that I never have, just it was so busy this time of year. This is someone that I would call a friend, someone that I have played with their kids, one that held my arm as I could barely walk. This person is one of the true leaders in my work place, and can even issue a butt chewing when needed or earned with a smile given back as change. I guess anyone can have a bad day, make a career-ending mistake, or have a run-in with a Nasty!
Now I should add that I have no idea what happen to get this person in this state. I’m not going to ask, because I just don’t want this person to re-live the events again. It could be anything from bad or urgent news from the home life, a run-in with a frenzied out of control consumer, (and you know who you are!) Even the best holiday retail arena work demands pull or over load the best employee to their knees every now and then. Still my gut feeling, which I have come to trust quite well, is given me an alert not for a fire, a riot, or doom, Just a Nasty out prowling.
I immediately began to reflect on the various Nasties who I have worked with over the years. I thought of five people in particular who didn’t know what a carrot is, but they had a mountain of sticks. They need a mountain of sticks because they wear them out or break them so quickly - figuratively bashing those that don’t do exactly what they want, when they want over the head, backs or careers. More even frustratingly they will often employ their clubs when they only have a very small amount of facts, often clubbing a semi-innocent person. And once proven wrong, they can barely muster to say “I apologize,” instead they are out clubbing the next person like a jockey in the home stretch, in second place.
By clubbing, I am referring to the nasty, accusatory, paper work driven and even sometimes public scolding that a large number of us have had the displeasure to witness (or experience). You know the type – the ones that has nearly every working member of the organization is in fear of and only serves to public point the finger at an individual(s). More often than not, its purpose is to cover the butt of the person doing the clubbing. This is because they are admitting that, while the subject of the clubbing is near and dear to them, they couldn’t manage to stay engaged in the mission to help keep it on track. But they will now cast blame, after the fact, where they believe it should be. Go back and re-visit these events you have had, with a key player or even a leader, do they accept any responsibility? I am willing to bet that in 80% of the cases that answer is NO.
What these individuals never seem to understand is that this behavior does not accomplish what they hope. My belief is that they feel that by publicly chastising people, it will motivate that employee to work harder the next time. While I am not a Psychologist, I have to believe that this actually de-motivates people as well as it creates bitterness and resentment. It can often lead towards the escalation of this nastier behavior as de-people begin to lob their own verbal grenades at others in the work place, and could even start or lead to full inner-department wars.
I would also argue that as a result of these behavior productivity decreases, which is exactly the opposite effect that the “club” holder would argue they were trying to accomplish. I’ll even be willing to go a step farther out on this limb, with the point that it is the “club holder” will someday club the wrong person, let’s call them a “quiet land mine” type and BLAM! We all will be on the ten o’clock news.
If there was no upper intervention following a “clubbing” the employees learn that they need to “CYA” from this point forward. So they begin to document every step and wait for countless approvals and signoffs before they move forward. Projects and work begin to take much longer than they could or should, often because the employees are covering their butts by documenting where the problem has probably always existed – with the person(s) doing the clubbing. The net effect is that the mood of the group drops and so does overall sales.
I disagree completely with publicly embarrassing a colleague and those that do it should be disciplined. And when it is done with a lack of clear evidence the penalty should be more severe – up to and including termination, No matter their place or rank in a company. People who are too busy to pick up the phone, or visit with a colleague that they “believe” missed the target, in order to gather data and possibly council them (if necessary) are too busy to continue to work for the organization.
Because of the nature of business, retail asks employees to deal with a lot already - from 40 hour work weeks, nearly 7 day work weeks, and on and on. We should not hire or tolerate nasties that make work life even more difficult then it is. And when you consider the overall price of unproductive behavior, loss of sales and possibly future legal activity, Nasties can produce a very tangible negative financial impact on the whole organization.
So to the Nasties, a lot of us little folk have very long memories, and One day, you may need us for something, that could make or break you. I only hope that the welt marks from the clubbing you have issued, don’t get in the way of us helping you and that you will start looking for Other Kinds Of Answers…
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