Managing People in Tough Times

Managing People in Tough Times:

A client of mine who is a Texas dairyman was going through a rough time several years ago, and asked about managing his people.  He realized that he was going out to the parlor more often and looking over the employee’s shoulders, talking about how tough things were and making sure that everything got done right because there was no room for error.  We talked about the parlor manager there, and sure enough—he had been there for 12 years and was considered one of the best in the entire industry.  So why look over his shoulder and nitpick?  We discussed the possibility of not going out there and interacting with the people unless he had a positive attitude and could avoid micro-managing the staff.

In a conversation awhile later, and he told me that things had changed for the better, and he got an interesting comment from that parlor manager.  The owner had decided to not go down there unless he had a positive attitude about things—which meant that he avoided the parlor for two weeks…..  (Everything went just fine without him)  When he did finally go back in, the manager immediately pulled him aside and said, “I noticed that you haven’t been down here for a couple of weeks.  And I just wanted to say……THANKS!”

Last week, the Minnesota Pork Producers held their annual conference, “Managing People in Pork Production.”  They focused this year’s event on “Managing Good People in Bad Times.”

Bernie Erven of The Ohio State University, provided some great thoughts on Employer’s Fears vs. Employee’s Fears during bad times:

Employer Fears:

• Losing the business
• Losing employees
• Employees learning the truth
• Employee morale

Employee Fears:

• Losing their jobs
• The unknown
• Well-being of their co-workers and employer

Bernie mentioned four key areas to focus on during these times as a way to overcome these fears:

--Have a positive attitude

--Have a plan to get through

--Adjust your Human Resource practices—temporarily

--Communicate

Some more specific comments:

• Ask employees for ideas and include them in the choices that need to be made
• Be honest about the bad times when hiring new employees
• Be fair about work loads
• Continue to reward high quality employees
• Honor previous commitments
• Catch people doing things right and say ‘thank you’
• Don’t nitpick
• Listen to your employees
• Avoid daily complaints about how bad things are
• Continue giving priority to your management responsibilities

In my presentation titled, “Would You Work for You?” I asked the group to make a list of the “traits of the people they would prefer to work for.”  This is always a fun exercise, and very revealing.  Some of the traits they listed included:

• Flexible
• Dependable
• Honest
• Positive
• Motivated
• Self-starter
• Trustworthy
• Perceptive
• Disciplinarian
• Flexible
• Empathetic
• Visionary
• Financially stable
• Knowledgeable
• Family oriented
• Communicator
• Core values
• Organized
• Optimistic
• Approachable
• Accountable

That’s a long list….and intimidating when we turn it around and ask the question, “So how do you measure up as a manager?  How many of these traits do you have?”  We look at that list and can say that we have most of those traits, but all of them?  All the time?

To be an effective leader, manager, coach and team-builder we need to possess these traits… and probably more, especially during difficulties.  If we don’t back up what we say with action, if we fail to keep a positive attitude even in tough times, if we continue to seek out the bad news first thing in the morning just to see how bad things have gotten overnight….then we can expect our people to lose confidence in our ability to lead and manage.  It’s a natural result of our actions.

Our people need us to lead, and no one can lead while brooding and pitying over their situation.  These are certainly tough times and they need our complete, focused, rapt attention—and we need our people to be with us rather than avoiding us to preserve their own emotional well-being.

In tough times, whether they are financial, health-oriented, personal issues, or production issues, we need to remember that our people are on our side.  They want to keep their jobs, and they need assurances that we aren’t giving up on them.  Positive comments, attitudes and behaviors start at the top, and can be contagious if we garner the support of our people and give them a feeling of confidence that they can get behind.

Don Tyler

Tyler & Associates