The Employee Life Cycle (Part 3 of 4)

Written by: Craig Twombly

Published: January 2011

In the last Employee Life Cycle article we focused around the art or need to lead employees. As you think about leadership or management a great deal of time is spent working on individual levels with people that work for you. The challenge and art of leading is being able reach individuals in a way they understand and enjoy. In the first article of the Employee Life Cycle we spoke of the need to train individuals once they are hired. One of the challenges in the restaurant business; we would hire a new cook and expect that person to “keep up” without a lot of support from leadership along the way (training). Once trained and working inside the workforce, employees look for leadership. Leadership is the inspiration and values of the leader and organization. No matter if the person is a ten year or two week employee, all employees want and need to be led. Employees follow the lead of their boss and look for good examples along the way.

The third part of the Employee Life Cycle is support. Support seems to be the easiest, yet hardest to achieve. I often thought of support (for example) as helping out a server when he needs a hand getting drinks to a table or helping a manager out when she struggles with a project or a task. This is support but more on a daily basis. As we discussed earlier working in the restaurant was a great opportunity to see all levels of the Employee Life Cycle and it often makes me reflect back to the business.

When I first returned to Maine to work, I was approached by a manager as we prepared to complete employee reviews. The manager was very concerned about an individual line cook and his review. After much discussion the manager’s concern was with an individual’s behavior to other employees. This line cook was probably one of the best cooks that had ever worked for the company, but was unbearable to work with. He could be sarcastic and rough around the edges and intimidating to management as well. I heard story after story about things he had done and said. I sat down with the manager again and asked why his behavior had been accepted for so long. It was explained that the individual was a long-term employee who was about to graduate with a masters at the local university. The manager had always felt that he was going to leave soon and there was no point because he would just quit and they needed him. As I look back at the Employee Life Cycle, had we missed several opportunities with him? As I reflect I wonder if we had led him, would it have brought the employee to a different spot. Over the next several weeks, I observed his performance and he was great at the job but did in fact struggle with the people equation.

When we sat down for his review we discussed metrics for the job and where he stood. When I spoke of the concerns with his performance, he did not say much and just said, “It is who I am.” I was taken aback by his comments and after a few seconds, I recovered and asked him what his aspirations were. He went on to discuss why he was getting his masters and the job he would try to attain. Without much thought I asked the individual if he felt the behavior he exhibited would be allowed in his profession. Without much thought he looked at me and said no. As you can imagine we spent several minutes talking about the great opportunity he had while working in the restaurant to become great at communicating and dealing with people in a workplace. We discussed that it was a chance for him to learn, make mistakes and then be able to move to his profession with this knowledge and skill in his tool belt. Although this was not supporting him in the work he currently did, we were supporting him in his personal growth.

As a manager it is hard to think about such a task, especially for the employees who come to work every day and do the job without much fanfare. Below are a few thoughts to help support employees and their performance?

Get to know what is important to them:
Not all employees’ aspirations are to be promoted or grow inside the organization. As a leader spending the time to understand them is important. If an employee is at a cross road, it is important to know that and help in any way possible. As a leader it is still important to support them even if it is not for the future of the organization.

Stay connected:
Employees’ needs will change with time. Schedule time regularly to discuss where they are. The employee might want to learn new skills or just need your backing on a project. No matter what it is, you are supporting their growth and development

Build a Plan Together:
By having a plan it shows commitment and will keep everyone on track. Some plans will be easy and have attainable goals while others might need some creativity. Either way it is important to have a goal and the blue print to get there, whether it is to move on in their career or to move up in it.

Inside the Employee Life Cycle this is the tough part and the support part takes commitment and encouragement, even if it is not going to help you or the organization as a whole. As you look back, there are probably situations when the support employees need was anything from just having their back or encouraging them to find new avenues no matter what it is and no matter how long an employee has been with the organization. The employee needs to be supported. It is often thought that the employee who has been with an organization for some time just comes in to work and needs little support. The chances are, they might need it more.

I look forward to your thoughts and insight and we will complete the Employee Life Cycle next month.

Craig Twombly

Craig is the primary facilitator at Priority Learning, he is responsible for conducting an array of leadership series offered and consulting assignments from communications to team development in organizations ranging from the service industries to finance, manufacturing and more. Having extensive experience at balancing the business needs with the wants and desires of people are Craig's strongest assets.