I’m currently working with the owner of a company that has made great strides in working less in the business and more on the business primarily by letting go of tasks that can be performed as effectively by other employees.
At first it was very difficult for the owner to let go of any tasks he was performing even when he had employees who were supposed to be accomplishing it. Part of the reason was the owner felt that the employee wouldn’t perform the job as well as he. Over a period of time (with a lot of encouragement), he did release his grip and slowly handed the tasks off.
As the owner continued to hire key employees and let go of more key roles, he did notice that the new hires were not performing the job the way he used to; instead,he discovered that they were achieving the same results and, in many cases, they were far more efficient at getting those results. In short, he realized that in most cases, the employees would get the same results in less time.
Think about it: The employees you hired have the education and experience -- that’s why you hired them in the first place. Your accountant is going to have an easier time collecting aged receivables than you, your marketing manager will have an easier time updating your website and social networks, your salesperson will have an easier time negotiating a price for your product. Even if you disagree with any of those examples, I would assume that performing those tasks are not the best use of your time.
About five months ago, this owner who, by the way, wishes to remain anonymous, hired a vice president to oversee all of the operations, and so far, the new VP has made a considerable positive impact within the company by adding much-needed accountability, process and communication.
Recently, the VP terminated an employee who had unique skills to the company, had been part of the company from close to the inception of the business and was friends with the owner. Part of the reason for the termination was because he repeatedly didn’t listen to the VP, due to his connection with the owner, and he also felt untouchable because of his unique skill. After several disciplinary meetings that involved his having a bad attitude, not getting along with other employees and not following the rules, the VP had a discussion with the owner to explain why he felt he had to terminate the employee and then he fired him.
A couple months later, a project came up that required the unique skills of that terminated employee, so the owner called him up and hired him as a consultant to do the work without talking to the VP about it.
The following day, the former employee showed up to work. For the first half of the day, work was disrupted as employees kept coming up to him to find out why he was back. Worse than that, when some of the employees asked the VP, they discovered he was not aware that this person had returned, nor did he know why.
How do you think this made the VP look in front of his employees? More importantly, what do you think were the unspoken thoughts of the employees (the thoughts that never get shared with the executives and owners) when they saw the VP had no idea the terminated employee was back?
In this case, in my opinion the unspoken thoughts of the employees may have sounded like this -- “When the VP was hired, we were told that he was going to have the power to run the operation (which included terminations). Apparently, we thought wrong. Maybe the VP is a puppet to the owner... maybe we should stop listening to and bringing our problems to the VP and just go directly to the owner.”
Fortunately, the owner of this business is a very smart man who has learned how to control his ego and has created channels of accountability to help him make better informed decisions and create a higher level checks and balances system. I am fortunate to be one of his trusted advisors, and during one of my coaching sessions with the owner and the VP, I learned about this situation and forced the discussion to the point where the VP and owner talked through the issue until there was a resolution which included the owner promising to never usurp the decisions made by the VP as long as there is communication with major issues like terminations.
Most owners do not have a checks and balances system and do not create the channels to discuss issues like this one. In fact, what typically happens is they get ignored, are treated by the owner as if it’s not a big deal and become one of the major reasons why A-player employees eventually leave.
During the conversation I made sure the owner heard what I thought were the unspoken words of the VP, whom I consider a top-notch A employee. I told the owner I felt the unspoken words of the VP were, “If decisions I make are going to be overruled by the owner, even after I had a conversation with him ahead of the decision, then I’m going to lose control of the employees. I won’t be able to perform my job effectively; therefore, I will find another company that has an owner who will allow me to make those decisions and won’t overrule them.” After saying that, the VP did not argue with my statement but did say he’s not considering looking for another job. The owner was pleased to hear that and mentioned he would be more mindful to communicate with the VP before making decisions like bringing back a terminated employee.
All employees want autonomy to perform their job at the highest level; A-employees deserve it. When you’re an A-employee, it does not take long to find another job and, as any business owner knows, A-employees are extremely hard to come by. No employer ever has enough of them.
In fact, many business owners struggle with finding top level talent. Part of the reason it’s so difficult to find A-employees is because they’re are always employed (unless they are looking for the job). So how do you find and hire more A-employees?
The secret to attracting more A-employees is to become an A-employer. I think this is one of the biggest failures of small business owners. Most employers, managers and leaders fail to recognize this. How do you expect to get and, more importantly, retain A-employees if they don’t see you as an A-employer or an A-owner or an A-leader. For 18 straight years, Wegmans grocery store has been ranked in the top 100 companies to work for by Fortune magazine. Wegmans is an A-employer. When you’re an A-employer, it’s far easier to attract that same level of employee because they know that they will be given the space to be the best version of themselves, they will work with fellow A-employees and will also be offered the best opportunities. Wegmans became an A-employer by building a culture around values they strongly endorse along with continuous employee training, open communication, flexible schedules and manager autonomy.
A-employees want to continue to grow and learn, they want to have the autonomy to perform their job at the highest level and they want to continue to grow with the company. The best part about having A-employees is that they tend to create and hire more A-employees.
Think about New England Patriot’s QB, Tom Brady. He’s an A-employee, headed to the Football Hall of Fame as one of the greatest to ever play the game and he’s not slowing down even at age 38 (practically over the hill for pro football). What he does as an A-employee is bring up the skill level of the employees around him. I’m a Buffalo Bills fan, so I’ve had to endure the pain of losing to Tom Brady for over a decade and watch first hand what he does as an A-employee. Every year, it seems as if the New England Patriots have a whole new crew of no-name football players added to the Patriots’ offense, and every year it seems they become superstars. Tom Brady, the A-employee, helps makes C-employees become B-employees and B-employees become A-employees. A-employees help raise the bar for all the other employees around them.
Think about your A-employees. How do you get them to act more like Tom Brady? Well, you start by becoming an A-employer. Think about what are you doing to hinder their growth. Trust me, you are holding them back. Don’t believe me? OK then, sit down with each A-employee individually, tell them that you are reevaluating what you are doing and realize that you at times are getting in the way of letting them perform their job. Then ask them, “What job responsibilities do you feel I am getting in the way of or preventing you from accomplishing?” More than likely, since they’re A-employees, they will tell you because they already have been thinking about it for quite some time. If they say, “There are none”, tell them to think about it for a couple days and follow up after that.
A-employees are very motivated and growth-oriented, so there usually is something that you are doing as their leader that they wish you weren’t. If, after you reconvene, they still have nothing to offer, ask another employee how they think you are hindering that A-employee’s ability to accomplish her job? Chances are good that you’ll get an answer involving those unspoken words that rarely get back to you.
It takes a considerable amount of emotional intelligence, ego control, trust in your employees and creating a culture around the company values to be an A-employer. Like the business owner in this story, it is also helpful if you have channels of accountability to ensure you as owner or leader are following and not wavering from your company values. The best part of the story was that weeks later, that issue between the owner and the VP was water under the bridge and was another foundational strengthening moment between an A-employer and an A-employee.
If you want more A-employees, it’s time you become an A-employer. Ask your A-employees how you’re holding them back, and then give them the freedom they need to do their best work. Take a look at the values you set and create accountability to ensure you are following them and making decisions based upon them. You will end up with happy A-employees who will gladly raise the bar in your company and encourage other A-employees to join because you will be seen as an A-employer just like Wegmans.
I hope you have a great day!