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Published On: Dec 22, 2003 02:57 PM
Total entries in this category:
Published On: Dec 22, 2003 02:57 PM
The Carefully Reasoned Response
Sometimes the best way to handle an
emotional employee is to refrain from being 'reasonable.'
One day, a senior manager got a letter from an
irate employee.
"Dear Mr. Plankboard,
After much deliberation, I have decided to write you to let you know of the extreme dissatisfaction of most of the employees in my department. We do our very best to support our customers, but the main office doesn't do anything to support us in our effort. This situation is completely intolerable, and I can't predict what might happen if it is not addressed immediately. In the last week, at least three people have threatened to quit, and one employee has been hospitalized for stress-related problems.
When I first started working here, it was very clear that this company stood, first and foremost, for service to the customer. We have lost sight of that goal when we put office decor ahead of meeting customer needs. We have lost sight of that goal when we condone immoral behavior on the part of middle managers. We have lost sight of that goal when corporate headquarters requires us to give higher priority to getting big orders than to filling them properly.
If these issues aren't of concern to senior management, then I am obviously working for the wrong company.
Sincerely,
Ungvald"
The manager looked at the letter, and made a list of Ungvald's concerns. He felt that the company's goals and policies were just what they had always been, and that Ungvald's criticisms were invalid. He wrote back, carefully explaining how the company's policy was to be implemented, and how that worked in the customer's best interest, and how Ungvald simply had the wrong impression of what senior management wanted to do.
Ungvald received the letter, and promptly quit...and he got two other key staff people to leave with him.
Could Mr. Plankboard have changed this outcome? I think so. His mistake was in crafting a carefully reasoned response to Ungvald. The 'carefully reasoned response' deals almost exclusively with content, and it ignores some very important clues...clearly Ungvald and perhaps several others are having an emotional crisis. The very best thing Mr. Plankboard could do would be to make a personal visit to the department, have a sit-down conference with Ungvald, and listen sympathetically without making any immediate commitments. This would have restored Ungvald's willingness to work within the system, because he would feel he had been heard.
It's the process, not the content.
"Dear Mr. Plankboard,
After much deliberation, I have decided to write you to let you know of the extreme dissatisfaction of most of the employees in my department. We do our very best to support our customers, but the main office doesn't do anything to support us in our effort. This situation is completely intolerable, and I can't predict what might happen if it is not addressed immediately. In the last week, at least three people have threatened to quit, and one employee has been hospitalized for stress-related problems.
When I first started working here, it was very clear that this company stood, first and foremost, for service to the customer. We have lost sight of that goal when we put office decor ahead of meeting customer needs. We have lost sight of that goal when we condone immoral behavior on the part of middle managers. We have lost sight of that goal when corporate headquarters requires us to give higher priority to getting big orders than to filling them properly.
If these issues aren't of concern to senior management, then I am obviously working for the wrong company.
Sincerely,
Ungvald"
The manager looked at the letter, and made a list of Ungvald's concerns. He felt that the company's goals and policies were just what they had always been, and that Ungvald's criticisms were invalid. He wrote back, carefully explaining how the company's policy was to be implemented, and how that worked in the customer's best interest, and how Ungvald simply had the wrong impression of what senior management wanted to do.
Ungvald received the letter, and promptly quit...and he got two other key staff people to leave with him.
Could Mr. Plankboard have changed this outcome? I think so. His mistake was in crafting a carefully reasoned response to Ungvald. The 'carefully reasoned response' deals almost exclusively with content, and it ignores some very important clues...clearly Ungvald and perhaps several others are having an emotional crisis. The very best thing Mr. Plankboard could do would be to make a personal visit to the department, have a sit-down conference with Ungvald, and listen sympathetically without making any immediate commitments. This would have restored Ungvald's willingness to work within the system, because he would feel he had been heard.
It's the process, not the content.
Posted: Tue - December 9, 2003 at 05:46 PM