While doing some research for an employment law matter, I came across a book called "The No Asshole Rule" by Stanford University professor Dr. Robert L. Sutton. The book was written to extend an article Sutton wrote for the Harvard Business Review seeks to quantify the cost to businesses in a variety of terms all HR departments confront daily with extremely arrogant and downright mean supervisors and employees.
Sutton litters his book with striking examples of senior staff who torture employees in direct and indirect ways. Aside from these stark examples, the author also illustrates evidence from Europe and increasingly here in the United States about a more insidious form of bullying: That which is done at the hands of front line managers.
The book argues the premise that as managers mistreat their employees through yelling, belittling them in front of peers, giving them the cold shoulder when things don't go the manager's way all lead to a decline in productivity, morale and a higher rates of employee turnover and theft.
You might think that with a bad economy, as companies seek to find ways to streamline operations, people who Sutton classifies as, "assholes" would be first on the employee chopping block. That isn't necessarily the case. Often, these managers are protected because of their ability to project fear and anxiety in those who must endure direct or indirect onslaughts from managers who are largely unaccountable for this destructive behavior.
Several of the case studies in the book look like they were lifted from one of the major employers in Sidney. One such manager routinely, "forgets" deadlines, and assignsblame on one or more unlucky subordinates. This manager also felt that the amount of time they had spent in their job entitled them to have their ass kissed by subordinates.
While many times this conduct is done in secret, astonishingly, this statement was made in front of HR representatives while pursuing a progress report of a subordinate. Despite admissions by senior HR staff that the manager was ineffectual and under the control of a domineering manager themselves, no behavior changes were ever reflected in either manager that would have indicated coaching or other disciplinary measures were taken with either manager. As a result, their conduct toward this subordinate became protracted and increasingly hellish.
In an effort to reduce exposure and to facilitate recruiting of new personnel, companies routinely rely on codifying their core values or mission statements to include things such as, "respect for individuals or zero tolerance policies regarding bullying. Our local company has explicityly stated one of its core values as respect for individuals. Our manager example, as well as their supervisor routinely violate this canon. Our subordinate was brought into a meeting and yelled at for a period of more than 20 minutes, resulting in such a reaction they had to leave and seek external assistance to cope with the shock of the episode.
It seems that in times of economic trouble, companies seem to tolerate bullies. Could it be the company secretly appreciates those who hasten the departure of talented people who can't conform to the whims of people such as the above described manager? Possibly, but the case is more likely that companies see the victims of this kind of abuse as troubled employees and often work to label the employee as the one with the deficient attitude, work ethic, or somehow lacking leadership competencies necessary to advance one's career.
Further more, when employees take the time to report this negative behavior, they become almost forced into a paranoid alternate reality, documenting everything that is foisted upon them, just to prove they are not doing anything wrong. These employees, often bring additional work and stress home with them in an effort to continue to produce at high levels, but seek the solace of a quieter environment.
In our local case, the employee was forced to do just that. They documented every bullying episode and attempted to utilize the company chain of command, including department directors and senior HR management. Each time, our employee was told that they lacked leadership and couldn't handle adversity. In the case of the department director, no action was ever addressed to investigate the charges alleged by the harmed employee.
One has to wonder how people become assholes as bosses. For some, a life of privilege leads them to believe that they can get away with anything. Likewise, people who know how to weasel themselves into the good graces of assholes often begin to imitate their behavior, knowing that they are shielded to some extent by the relatively stronger power umbrella their mentor provides. In other cases though, this tendency toward abusive behavior comes from a lack of self-actualization. Some times these managers just feel like they can never achieve greatness and adopt a misery loves company strategy. Whatever the case, the consequences on the team dynamic can be quite devastating.
The book seeks to quantify something called a "Total Cost of Assholes" or TCA value. This TCA is the sum total of many costs associated with bullying tactics such as those described above. Excessive turnover of personnel, recruiting costs and lost productivity are hallmark indications that a serious management problem exists. Perpetual low scores on employee engagement surveys, whereby specific leadership traits (of their supervisors) like trust and integrity are placed at or near the bottom by those taking the survey also point out the need for intervention. Bells should be ringing in this employer's ears, but the HR organization, insistent on reducing the company's exposure paint the employees as the problem, rather than the manager.
It isn't the direct cost alone that factors into the equation. TCA also includes the costs associated with lost time due to employee illness introduced by stress. Serious health issues arising from stress can lead to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Employee theft has also been seen to rise when organizations promote a culture of animosity. When a boss is allowed to act with the impunity as described above, with the knowledge and (at the least) tacit consent of HR team members, the whole organization is at risk.
Companies who choose to look the other way, often paint employees who complain about such conduct as problem children. These employees are often targeted for additional harassment such as public verbal flogging, write ups, threats of termination or firing outright. The devastating impact such coercive tactics take often leads to employees who must seek psychological or psychiatric counseling or treatment and lost time from work.
It is time that companies in the U.S. begin to do something besides pay lip service to code words like Core Values and respect for individuals. In the local employer example above, the manager supervised the departure of more than a dozen employees in the last seven years. Several of these employees sought positions elsewhere in the company, while the vast majority of them left the company due to the working conditions, lack of respect and lack of response by the company when legitimate complaints were lodged.
Depending on which side of the fence you are on, Sutton's book will either encourage you to stand up and fight for a better environment, or will scare the hell out of your company. There are companies out there who not only survive, but thrive and yes, they have a No Asshole Rule. Check out Sutton's book. It might just give you the ammunition or guidance you need to make a change in your Asshole manager. If you are being bullied by your manager or your company's HR team, do yourself a favor, get this book and then mention to them in writing that the bullying needs to stop. We all need one asshole. No one needs two.
No comments:
Post a Comment