More Than Talk » Telling the Plain, Unvarnished Truth at Work: Part 1

Jul 10 08

Telling the Plain, Unvarnished Truth at Work: Part 1

By Art Bell

(First of three parts) Do you observe a problem with down-right honesty in your workplace? It’s one thing to say that employees at all levels within a company often fail the candor and trust test, resulting in a breakdown of trust bonds with peers, subordinates, and supervisors. It’s quite another to understand why these otherwise upstanding citizens speak and act in such perverse, counterproductive ways in the workplace. Put simply, as we have put it in many employee interviews, “Why not be candid?”

One of the most frequent answers to that question can be summed up as “the devil made me do it”—in other words, “I was forced or manipulated into saying and doing things that aren’t really ‘me’.” What are these mysterious forces that turn otherwise ethical individuals into people who don’t speak up when they should, or make statements that are less than candid?

The Angry Boss Made Me Do It

American business magazines continue to lionize “the ten toughest bosses” and their temperamental antics. (These behaviors in the European Union are termed “bullying” and are grounds for termination as well as civil prosecution.) But in the United States, we still cling wrong-headedly to the outmoded notion that a boss must be a “butt-kicker,” rousing fear in the hearts of subordinates. Such actions, the theory goes, makes employees toe the line and give their utmost effort, fearing punishment in various forms from the apoplectic boss.

Fear can be a powerful motivator, at least in the short term. Among the less desirable behaviors it motivates are widespread tendencies for subordinates to make up excuses, fabricate information, blame others to avoid personal responsibility, and “play it safe” by not speaking up at all. As one manager in Cincinnati explains, “the CEO is well known for his temper, and all his lieutenants in the company have started using the same angry management style. They swear a blue streak in meetings if someone slips a deadline, even for legitimate reasons, or makes a mistake of some kind. We all feel that the office is minefield where one misstep can get you maimed if not destroyed professionally. So we tiptoe around out of fear of saying or doing the wrong thing. No one sticks his or her neck out, especially in meetings attended by the upper-level bosses. Candor? In this office? You’ve got to be kidding.”

Another employee, this time at an entry level, continues the same story: “Do I say what I have to sometimes to cover my you-know-what? Absolutely. So does everyone else at my level in the company. If something goes wrong—a crate gets dropped, let’s say, with a lot of merchandise damaged—our first impulse is not to figure out what went wrong and how to correct it. Instead, we all scurry for cover by making up excuses to show that ‘it wasn’t my fault.’ It’s like the game ‘musical chairs’ as we all run for safety, and God help the poor employee who gets stuck with the blame. The boss goes nuts, berating the person in front of the rest of us and putting him or her on the worst possible jobs for weeks or months. When the boss is so vindictive, what do you expect the employees to do? We sure aren’t going to step forward to tell it like it is. The boss makes that impossible.”

Mean bosses who manage by terror exert a corrupting influence on the willingness of their workers to be candid. These bosses destroy any chance that employees will trust them. Like children afraid of any angry father, the “kids” (i.e., workers) will do and say anything in the parent/boss’s presence to avoid punishment, even if that involves giving up candor altogether. Bosses who rely on their tempers to motivate others have the illusion that they are achieving “command and control” over the troops. In fact, they are losing control and sacrificing trust in at least three ways:

1. They don’t know what’s really happening in their organizations. The shock and awe of temper displays on the part of the boss make employees unwilling to reveal client feedback and information about company problems. These employees have seen the boss “kill the messenger” so often that they are rightly fearful of stepping forward with any message that might anger the boss.

2. They don’t have the loyalty of people who fear and despise them. Workers who have been cowed by savage outbursts of the boss’s temper are not likely to be the ones who give their best to the job, who stay late to finish an important project, or who go beyond the call of their job description to contribute innovative ideas. The boss’s angry outbursts send these employees fleeing to the exact language of their job descriptions—“I’ll do exactly what my contract says and nothing more”—or to the protection of the union. These emotionally and professional bruised employees are probably the ones circulating their resumes to the competition in hopes of finding a less stressful, punishing work environment.

Consider evidence from exit data from interviews with employees who quit. The predominant reason why employees leave a company has nothing to do with salary. Instead, the most frequently cited reason is “I didn’t get along with my boss.” Such turnover proves exceedingly expensive to the company. The American Management Association estimates that a company pays about one year’s salary to replace a mid-level manager who quits, when recruitment, selection, and training costs are totaled for the new hire.

3. They lose control over their reputations and professional options. When a boss fails to inspire loyalty and respect among the workforce, his or her own prospects for professional advancement begin to dim. This is not to say that jerks don’t ever receive promotions. On balance, however, managers are judged by what they inspire in others. If their legacy is only a mixture of fear and hatred, any board or corporate leader would think twice before handing over the reins of supervision to such an individual.

Parts two (The Nice Boss Made Me Do It) and three (Peers that Threaten Candor) to follow.

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