The Shirley Sherrod Incident:
A Teachable Moment for Human Resource
Management
A
grand case of poor performance management has entered the news recently. A management level federal employee was asked
to resign a result of a video tape of a speech she gave, which apparently
indicated she was prejudicial in her remarks. Putting the politics of this incident
aside, this is the classic case of over-reaction and under-investigation.
One of the main components of managing performance is
getting accurate data. Obviously in this
case this did not happen. Nor were basic employee relations procedures followed.
In case of a critical incident overwhelmingly impacting future employment
status, the first decision should be to either suspend or put the employee on
administrative leave. This is done for 2
reasons: (1) get the employee out of the
emotional mainstream at work and (2) allow for time to gather and analyze the real
facts.
These two simple actions allow management to make the right
decision in a dignified and professional manner. When such events happen here
are some simple rules to follow:
Stay Calm:
Most managers make the mistake of reacting viscerally. The act may be so egregious that the
immediate response is to fire the person.
By placing someone on suspension, is just that, suspending final
judgment. It will help you to cool down
your emotions and prevent you from saying anything you could regret later.
Set an Example: The way you handle the situation will be viewed by everyone else in
your organization as a window into your leadership capabilities. Handling critical
situations poorly may result in your own demise (e.g., Tony Hayward, the soon-to-be former BP CEO). If you handle it well, your star will rise with your
superiors and those intimate with the situation will have an added element of
respect for you.
Become a Detective:
Don’t accept the facts at face
value.
Unless you were direct witness you need to gather all the facts before coming to your own conclusions. The biggest
mistake you can make is trying to justify your own decisions by searching out
of facts to support it. If you were a participant
in the event, get the observations of others who may have been a witness to ascertain
if your perceptions are validated by them.
Be an Impartial Judge: Fairness is paramount. All employees should be
afforded due process. Even if the evidence
is crystal clear, your company’s reputation will be negatively impacted if you summarily
terminate people without a fair investigation and/or “day in court”. Other
employees will look at this situation and say to themselves that “if I were in
this situation, is this the way I want to be treated”. This is also a good guideline for the leader
to use in assessing their treatment of the employee.
Repair the Damage: After you have acted on the situation, whether it is terminating,
disciplining or exonerating the employee, it is best to communicate the action
to others. This can range from the employee’s immediate work group, the entire
company or to the general public. Explain to your intended audience what the
facts of the case are and why you took the action you did.
Seek Professional Advice: Don’t take on the role of a hero. Seek the advice of
those who have experience in these matters. This maybe a combination of human resources,
legal and public relations professionals who can help you process through the
ethical and legal dilemmas of the situation.
Make sure to include people with diverse perspectives to prevent everyone
agreeing with each other (groupthink), which could result in a less than optimum
decision.