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By Ellen Pearlman
Strategic Thinker: Robert I. Sutton
Credentials: Sutton is a professor of management science and engineering at Stanford University, where he cofounded the Hasso Plattner Institute of Design and the Stanford Technology Ventures Program. He is a recognized expert on organizational psychology and the author of many articles and books, including The No Assholes Rule and the coauthor, with Jeffrey Pfeffer, of Hard Facts, Dangerous Half-Truths And Total Nonsense: Profiting From Evidence-Based Management and The Knowing-Doing Gap: How Smart Companies Turn Knowledge into Action. He is currently writing a book on great bosses.
Big Idea: Bosses need to rethink their responsibilities in tough times.
Article: "How to Be a Good Boss in a Bad Economy" published by Harvard Business Review, June 2009
Blog: "Work Matters"
Related:
Ten Things I Believe
Do you remember the best boss you ever had? Most people do. I remember mine and tried to model my behavior after his when I had the opportunity to manage others. Being a great boss is a skill that's always needed, but in a bad economy it can be challenging for even the most skilled boss to handle layoffs, budget cuts and project cancellations flawlessly. The skills that serve a boss well in times of rapid growth are not necessarily the ones that are most needed when the going gets tough. Stanford Professor Robert Sutton has written an article, "How to Be a Good Boss in a Bad Economy," for the Harvard Business Review about why it's so hard to be a good boss and what the best bosses do when operating in difficult times.
Sutton reminds readers that it's never easy being a great boss even in the best of times. Research shows, he says, that people in charge tend to become more "self-centered and less mindful of what others need." This is compounded by the fact that followers glom on to every word uttered by their superiors, and then dissect what those utterances mean for their jobs and their futures. A study by psychologists Dacher Keltner, Deborah Gruenfeld and Cameron Anderson found that when bosses moves are ambiguous, followers are more likely to interpret this as a sign something bad is going to happen to them. Naturally, this distracts them and their performance suffers.
In bad times, people are more likely to see threats everywhere. Closed-door meetings set off alarm bells. Offsite meetings cause angst. Unexplained absences are cause for consternation and e-mail gossip. How can bosses avoid this? Sutton believes they need to take attention away from themselves and give it "to their people's challenges and worries." There are four remedies that can help, he says. Bosses need to address the needs that people have for predictability, understanding, control and compassion.
Studies have shown that when people can predict when something bad may happen to them, they can go about their days with less anxiety. Likewise, when people have no warning that something negative may happen they live in a constant state of anxiety. Psychologist Martin Seligman did research on the signal/safety hypothesis. He found that in London during World War II air-raid sirens warned people when bombs were coming. This signal was so reliable that if the sirens didn't go off people could go about their lives without excessive worry.
In organizations layoffs are often shrouded in mystery. Corporate executives often don't want to say anything about what is happening until the time comes to let the first person go. Needless to say, everyone in the organization is anxious waiting to find out when and where the ax will fall. However, if a company lets people know that layoffs are coming in three months, for example, there is still anxiety but knowing when it will occur lessens it. "Providing more predictability is in large part a function of reducing the seemingly random," says Sutton.
Providing understanding is all about explaining why things are happening and how. People react negatively to unexplained events. "The effect is so strong that it is better to give an explanation they dislike than no explanation at all, provided the explanation is credible," says Sutton. And don't think that one e-mail missive or one meeting is enough to set the record straight. People need to hear the news simply, clearly and frequently.
Giving people some control over their lives also helps during a crisis. As Sutton points out you may not be able to give them a voice in what happens, but it's important that they have "as much say as possible in how and when it happens."
And when all is said and done, showing compassion is appreciated. Don't forget that when you're giving the bad news to an employee that she is being laid off, it's the first time she is hearing it. You've had some time to digest the bad news and the belt tightening measures that are coming. Compassion is most important, adds Sutton, when it "helps people retain their dignity." Avoid, for example, bad mouthing people that have been laid off. Saying you've kept the best and removed the weakest from the organization only demoralizes those remaining, even if it's true. "Before making a statement," says Sutton, "stop to consider how it will sound to an upset and touchy person."
The bottom line is if you show people you have their interests at heart-in good and bad times-they will reward you with loyalty when you need it the most.
Reprinted by permission of Harvard Business Review. Excerpted from "How to Be a Good Boss in a Bad Economy" Copyright (c) 2009 Harvard Business School Publishing Corporation; All Rights Reserved.
Also of interest:
- Blog: Pink Slip, a blog by Boston-based consultant Maureen Rogers on the workplace, business, management, the economy, lay-offs, and other things.
- Book: Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die by Chip Heath and Dan Heath, published by Random House, January 2007. A guide to effective communication.
- Book: What To Do When You Become The Boss: How new managers become successful managers by Bob Selden, paperback published by Outskirts Press, November 2007. A how-to for new managers.
CIOZ Question: What did you learn from your best boss?
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