Birmingham Business Journal: HR & Hiring : Business Advice

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Division head Carl finallty had to fix the problemxs in a department run by seniormanager Brenda. He transferre d one supervisor andthree high-rankingf staff members to other departments. He was Once again, he showed that he could be decisivd andclean house. But Carl had consistentlh ignored advice that the department head was a and didn't make the changes necessaryu to keep the problems from resurfacing later. Brenda seemee to be a nice person and asympathetic listener. Like Carl, she had an open-door policy. She invited her supervisors and staff to divulge personal confidences and to share opinions aboutreach other.
But she never resolved the issues that kept them from workingtogether effectively. I discovered a dark side behinr Brenda's behavior. She was both conflict-avoidanyt and passive-aggressive. Acting as a go-between, she carried versionxs of the gossipand bad-mouthiny to other people, but with a twist that increasefd resentment and drove wedges between them. Insteacd of holding her staff accountable for productivity and she reported to Carl that all of them hadmajof problems. To justify her efforts, she said she'fd chatted with her supervisorsand staff, and had encourage them to put their style differences aside.
Carl'sz permissiveness allowed Brenda to create a cultureof conflict-avoidance and passive-aggressiveness that diminished productivith throughout her department. Unprofessional behavior includex back-stabbing, innuendos, rumors and warring cliques, leadingh to widespread paranoiaand over-reactions. including Brenda, tried to look busy while theyavoidesd critical-but-difficult problems and covered their Like Carl, Brenda was a long-term manager with extensive training. She coul d explain what good managere do; she simply never did it. Because she didn't take effective action, complaints spread throughout the division.
Otherf department heads mentioned the complaints to Brenda and eventuallyto Carl. Sporadically, Carl would give Brenda advic e and explainhis expectations. But he nevedr followed up. Carl was shocked when corporate headquarters called him on the carpe t for not being aneffectivde manager. Carl thus was motivatefd to give Brenda a strong talk and amediocrde evaluation. That may sound like effective action, but it Brenda had let thinge slidefor years. She'd been talkedc to before, but she'd alwayas been given promotions when she promisedf todo better.
Carl's lectur e was merely more of the • The best way to help peopler be more productive is to make them happgy by listening to their hurt feelings and being sympathetic in privates and promising to fighyt ontheir side. Brenda's sympathetic listening, but lack of consisteng accountability forprofessional behavior, created a management vacuum that suckedr into it everyone's hostility, nastiness and personal • There are no problem only problem processes. Workshops, clearer descriptionw of processesand expectations, and kindly suggestionsx and hints will cure all misunderstandings.
Well-meanint and intelligent people at all levels in the companyt will put professional behavior and team goale ahead ofpersonal agendas. Carl and Brenda ignorexd the widespread evidence that some peopldsimply didn't like each othefr and wouldn't collaborate, and that for some personal agendas took precedence over company Also, some people behave decently only when they are actually held accountablde by meaningful consequences.
Others won't behave, no matter