This article first appeared in the May, 2006 edition of the Jacksonville Business Journal
The following story is true. It shows how organizations - often with the best of intentions - crush the spirit that creates excellence.
Our main character is a woman named Andrea. She has a bachelors and masters degree in the sciences, and ten years of outstanding experience in scientific start-up companies. Over the course of a decade she moved up the ranks from a research lab assistant all the way to senior product manager with global responsibility.
Because of her extensive technical background, her "get it done" skills, and her multi-national product management experience, Andrea's new employer was delighted to have her join their organization. Her new employer is a venerable company in its industry, but has become bureaucratic in recent years. Through several recent acquisitions of young companies in Europe they hoped to kick-start their organization and inspire a new culture of innovation. Andrea was hired to be the U.S. based senior product manager for these new acquisitions.
Andrea gave 110 percent. She went overseas monthly, put in long and hard hours, and sacrificed her personal and social life to achieve corporate goals. She made good progress with the acquisitions despite significant resistance both from the newly acquired companies who did not want direction from "big brother" and from the inertia within her own organization. Andrea continued to receive encouragement from her manager, although supportive actions were often short of the words of encouragement.
When the national sales meeting for Europe was being planned, Andrea was specifically told to prepare the product plan and the strategic marketing plan, but not the tactical marketing or sales plan. Those were under development in Europe. When she made her presentation, the sales force wanted their sales plan; not a strategic marketing plan. Unfortunately, the person responsible for the sales plan had not fulfilled her responsibility and Andrea was left holding the bag. While she was attempting to respond to the sales force, her managers quietly left the room. They were busy covering their own bases with their peers in the bar.
When Andrea returned home she was told that she should have realized that the sales plan was a "shared responsibility," - even though she had emails explicitly assigning that job to someone else and directing her not to be involved. At the same time, her managers reassured her that she had done excellent work in her assignment. This experience left a deep mark on Andrea. She felt that in time of need her manager and her manager's manager had both "thrown her under the bus." Strike One.
Several weeks later Andrea came up for her annual performance review. She was told that her performance for the year had been outstanding. Yet, all her ratings were "meets expectations." None were "exceeds expectations." When she asked for the reason, she was told that she had only been in the job for one year and it would not be possible for a one year person to exceed expectations. She would have to work for at least six or seven years before she could hope to "exceed expectations."
Her comparison was not based on a one year product manager. Furthermore, because she was only "meeting expectations" she was not eligible for stock options - which are only awarded for those who "exceed expectations." In consideration of her outstanding performance however, she would receive a 4.5 percent raise instead of the standard 3.5 percent raise. Strike Two.
The Work Itself
People want to do a whole job so they can see the result of their work, not just a piece that has no meaning. Combining different tasks and skills at different levels adds stimulation and variety. Effective leaders design jobs so people can do a whole piece of work, and see the result of their efforts. Volvo had a significant breakthrough in both productivity and quality in their Bus Division when they abandoned the traditional assembly line and replaced it with teams of people who collectively had the responsibility for the assembly of a whole bus - and engraved their names on the finished product!
Several days later Andrea was called in again for her bonus. It was a very generous amount. The company had had an excellent year - in part because of the three acquisitions that Andrea was managing. However, Andrea learned that her bonus was based solely on company performance - the company bonus system provides no consideration for individual contributions. Strike Three.
So what has happened to Andrea? She remains a good employee. She does her work and everyone appears happy with her performance. But she now arrives at the start of the day and leaves at the end of the day. No extra trips overseas beyond those required. No long hours or special projects. Andrea has become a good, solid performer delivering the same middle-of-the-road results as her colleagues. Stellar performance has been reduced to average performance. And no one seems to notice the difference.
This story is repeated time and time again. It shows the effect of companies failing to support their employees and failing again to recognize and reward superior performance. It clearly demonstrates how companies unwittingly foster mediocrity and destroy initiative.
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