For 6 years, I tried so hard to let upper management understand all the things you listed, I also provided results from the teams I management to prove that if the company would adopt these techniques to lead employees, the results in productivity, efficiency, absenteeism, revenue…would improve dramatically. Well, as you put it, after 10 years, I gave up! Now, I am pursuing my passion and inspiring others to do the same. Sorry about the long comment, but, I am so passionate about this, Pam, I really wanted to add to your list based on my experience:)

I totally agree with the “Ranking” to evaluate employee’s performance. It is not only stupid, but, it creates a blood bath between employees. If senior management preaches about sharing best practices among employees, HELLO…this is going completely against that vision! It is not rocket science, no one will share their techniques with a colleague if they are being ranked, they will not risk falling behind! Furthermore, YOU NEED to review the objectives that are set to evaluate employees. They make absolutely NO SENSE!!! How can you set an objective for the average talk time per call when the tools the employees are using are sooooo out dated! It is impossible to take care of all the customer’s needs in a limited amount of time when the tool they are using requires for an employee to click on 7 different screens just to answer a customer’s question….The employees who are meeting this objective, are finding ways to let go of the call just to meet their objective….This is why you have repeat calls!!!!
I would add a very important one!!! Take responsibility for your actions! A senior manager who looks for who he can point the finger ( on his own team), when a decision that was taken failed, should NOT be in that position! I have seen this many times over….A true leader will always stand by his team, he will give credit to his team for all accomplishments and will take full responsibility for any failed decision. Besides, it should never be about pointing fingers and finding someone to take the blame, that is not what team spirit is about….There will always be mistakes, mistakes should be viewed as a growing experience, we learn from them and move forward as a team!
80% of coaching should be focused on bringing out employees’ strengths! It is true that we all have weaknesses and need to improve our weaknesses, however, I have seen extraordinary results when focusing and working on each individual’s strength. In doing so, in almost all cases, their weaknesses strengthen automatically! The employee felt valued, he was contributing to successful projects based on his own personal abilities! If you are able to bring out the best in someone and get everyone on a team to put their individual strengths together, it is amazing on how productivity, revenue, efficiency will rise dramatically. Upper management needs to accept that their front line employees can tell them exactly what all the problems are AND the solutions, it is ok that they know more than you….HELLO you are not the one talking to the customers everyday! As a leader, this is extremely vital to put into practice. You are there to lead your people, bring out their strengths, involve them in the decision making, guide them, provide them with all the information. Listen to them, face the brutal facts of what needs to be done. You do not have to be the one to make a decision on how to solve a problem seated behind your desk, answering emails and attending endless meetings…Your front liners know!!!! It takes a big person to be able to go down the latter and tell their employees, “ Hey, you know this better than me, you are the experts, let’s do it together!” Any company who is able to do this, has achieved true success, look at Apple!

We can’t generalize the whole world, their are all kinds of people in the world both angels and demons. It’s just a matter of chance who we run into.

At the time of reading this seminal piece I recall it was akin to being involved in a car crash and walking away from the incident with a contented smile across your face and a delightful case of whiplash from wrenching one’s neck left then right then left then right and left again and back to the right again so many times and so fast just to devour each word Pam had left on those pages. I recall thinking “who on earth has the absolute audacity and utter nerve to commit to paper what we cubicle dwellers all think but never dare to murmur out loud”.

In terms of where business bosses were ‘at’ when this open letter was written, what Pam says was so jaw-droppingly provocative, so true, so gloriously brave and so needed.

Reading the letter again tonight, I’ve got to say the letter will never date itself. It is as relevent, true, necessary and fresh today as it was that day when the ink from Pam’s pen dried on the pages back in 2006.

Thanks Pam.
RB

When I first joined this company like any new employee I was filled with hope. I thought based off of the interview and the initial relationships I had built with the executive team, I would make a difference. I did, but was never recognized for the great work and time spent accomplishing the tasks meant for the “big wigs”.

It amazed me that when I had surgery I was given grief and told that I couldn’t take the necessary time completely off, so I answered emails and calls from the hospital. on vacations, I was required to make sure all of operations were running smoothly . This meant of course, NO VACATION. I was more stressed coming back to work for fear of the wrath that was imminent.

When you mentioned that a great Executive will take the time to learn about the employees and learn their stories, I couldn’t agree more. In fact it was because of that extra time and care that I earned the respect of the entire company. This was not the case for our chief operating officer. He was so busy chasing skirts that he only came in to belittle me in front of the staff and then leave.

Executives have a habit of wearing down their most trusted and valued employees, they take the ones for granted that build the companies from the ground up. It took 3 years of fighting to keep those employees from quitting and fighting to allow them to telecommute.

I am not a fan of micro-managing. If you are a good manager on any level, you can monitor your team in a way that doesn’t make them feel like they are constantly under the strongest microscope and make them feel like they are no longer human. Great management is flexible and trusts their employees. You should allow a little time to go online, take a walk, go for the occasional long lunch, early day off, etc. Believe me when I tell you that those little things mean the world to employees and will make them work that much harder for you.

18 hour work days are not a great achievement. Creating the right environment will allow your staff to cut their day down to 8 or 9 hours a day by having a clear head and being happy about coming to work for you. They are trying to survive too.

Remember that no job is insignificant. Believe me when I say working in a production or shipping job can be just as stressful as being a top Executive member, for different reasons. Each job has it’s own stresses and you should never look down on your staff for holding those positions. Nothing frustrates me more than bosses coming in and talking down or snubbing those who work the “less important” jobs.Most of the time those “grunts” are working 2 or 3 jobs just to feed their families, did you ever think about that? Most of us are not born with a silver spoon in our mouths and not all of us are destined for greatness. Be kind to those around you, they are just as much of a human being as you are.

Pamela Slim, you are awesome. Thank you very much for saying what is on the mind of so many out there.

Most people try to impress their boss by working long hours and end up being workaholics.