Dear Dr. Nicole:
I’m an HR manager of a small marketing firm and I have a serious problem on my hands. One of our most loyal, hard working managers, Mrs. Jenex, who has been with our company for 15 years just left my office complaining that her 25 year old supervisee, Ms. Young, completely bypassed both of us and went directly to the CEO, Mr. Boomer, to ask if she can be transferred to a different team. Evidently Ms. Young was angry and was feeling too pressured to meet deadlines because Mrs. Jenex called her on a few weekends over the course of several months to check on the status of certain documents that the rest of the team was relying on to complete their deliverables. Low and behold, Mr. Boomer agreed to the team transfer because he didn’t want to waste time or money hiring and training someone new!
Mrs. Jenex is one of our hardest working employees and always stays late to finish her work and to help other people. She expects a lot from her team members in the sense that she expects people to meet deadlines but she is also a very fair manager. Mrs. Jenex has come to me in the past complaining of Ms. Young’s resistance to staying past 4:55PM when the rest of the team burns the midnight oil if needed to meet the needs of our customers. I know she has been frustrated with Ms. Young and hasn’t really known how to handle Ms. Young’s resistance to doing what it takes.
Now I’m stuck between a rock and a hard place! What message does this send to Ms. Young and other Generation Ys, and the rest of the company? What is Mr. Boomer saying about Mrs. Jenex’s 15 years or service? How is the company supposed to meet the demands of clients if people think they are entitled to not have to work hard or late? What is wrong with the young workers today?
Signed, Generational Mess
Dear Generational Mess:
You have quite a situation on your hands. Not only did your bright eyed and bushy tailed 25 year old, Ms. Young, just get the impression that she’ll be able to get away with anything she wants, your CEO basically made a public statement to the company that Mrs. Jenex has no authority in her role as manager. In addition, this exposes a fundamental flaw in the company’s engagement strategies as evidenced in Mr. Boomer’s behavior and Mrs. Jenex’s management. What to do?
Well, first, some relationships need to be repaired. CEO Mr. Boomer whiffed on a wonderful opportunity to develop conflict resolution and communication skills for both Ms. Young and Mrs. Jenex. Mrs. Jenex’s credibility, and more importantly, her power and esteem in her role were severely damaged by being undermined. This is the kind of error that hurts retention and, in this case, the relationship needs to be repaired and power restored. One way to accomplish this is by being transparent with the mistakes made. Transparent leadership is often the key to rebuilding trust, mending relationship and creating a culture where the vision is aligned and the purpose is clear.
Mr. Boomer should schedule two very important meetings, one with Mrs. Jenex and one with Ms. Young. In the meeting with Mrs. Jenex, he should acknowledge his mistake and together they should problem solve the managerial issues that arose with Ms. Young and figure out how decisions will be handled going forward.
With regard to Ms. Young, Mr. Boomer needs to recognize that by taking the easy way out, he cheated her out of important developmental lessons (problem solving, communication, conflict resolution, and accountability). From Ms. Young’s perspective, going to Mr. Boomer was not necessarily wrong because Generation Y employees do not tend to play the political game. It would be prudent to communicate why he felt it was a mistake to transfer her to another team but that he will honor his commitment to her, since retracting the transfer could severely damage morale, trust and ultimately productivity. Mr. Boomer should then use this time to communicate what is expected of her within the organization, including respecting the chain of command, and help her understand how her actions reflected poorly on her ability to demonstrate adaptability and accountability.
Some further damage control also needs to be done with Ms. Young. At this point, she is under the impression that if she puts up a stink, people will bend to her will. I suggest taking a two-pronged approach. First, a formal meeting should be held with the new manager, Mrs. Jenex and Ms. Young in order to outline what Ms. Young needs to do to earn her salary, what is required for promotion within the company, what the team expectations and culture are, what the chain of command is, and also, how problems and issues should be communicated. It is important to have Mrs. Jenex present in this meeting for several reasons. First, it restores her power as a manager and as someone who is involved in employee decision making. Also, it clearly aligns management and demonstrates unity in decision making to Ms. Young. Second, I suggest that even on the new team, Ms. Young be assigned some projects over the course of her tenure that involve her working closely with Mrs. Jenex’s team to restore the seemingly damaged respect.
Last but not least, clear expectations need to be communicated across the organization. Every employee needs to understand what is negotiable in his/her role and what is not, which is a vital part of the engagement process within organizations. Obviously Mrs. Jenex did not do a great job making her expectations and the team expectations clear to Ms. Young. Generation Y employees often have different values and expectations when it comes to work, so setting it clear from day one often helps in these situations.
Signed,
Dr. Lipkin
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