Jack and Suzy Welch answered the question, “How do you weed out the bad apples in an organization,” in their column, Ideas the Welch Way, in the November 13, 2006 edition of Business Week. Here is an excerpt:
Send the Jerks packing.
Start by putting down the pruning shears and picking up a buzz saw.
Look, nothing hurts a company more than when the bosses ignore, indulge, or otherwise tolerate a jerk—or two or three—in the house. Such latitude undermines organizational trust and morale. And without those, the competitive linchpins of collaboration and speed are just plain harder. Not to mention the fact that jerks take the fun out of work.
But before we talk about how to get rid of jerks—or bad apples, as you call them—let’s be clear about who these people are.
The first are people with good performance and good values. With these winners, management’s job is easy. The second are employees who have neither good results nor good behaviors. Again, the job is easy: Show them the door. A third kind of employee may deliver weak results for a year but still exhibit all the behaviors you want, so managers should give these well-intentioned people a second or third chance.
Then there’s a fourth kind of employee, the one who delivers the numbers but doesn’t live the values. You know the type—who doesn’t? These high performers can be mean, secretive, or arrogant. Very often they kiss up and kick down. Some are stone-cold loners, while others are moody, keeping those around them in a kind of terrorized thrall.
And yet, too often Type 4s remain unscathed. Sure, their bosses might rebuke then, but things usually don’t change after that. There’s been no sting.
You can’t do that! If you have jerk problem, you have to stare it in the face. Company leaders must come to believe that jerks hurt the organization more than they help. While their results are great, their collateral damage to the culture and overall competitiveness is far greater.
Once leadership buys into that line of reasoning—and really feels it in the bones—getting rid of jerks is pretty straightforward…but the real clincher in ridding an organization of jerks is removing the ones you have and doing so with public fanfare. Every time you get rid of a jerk, don’t miss the opportunity to make it a teaching moment. Pretty soon people will learn that jerk behavior has a steep price indeed.
You can never stop trying to week out bad apples. They’re just rotten for business.
Look, nothing hurts a company more than when the bosses ignore, indulge, or otherwise tolerate a jerk—or two or three—in the house. Such latitude undermines organizational trust and morale. And without those, the competitive linchpins of collaboration and speed are just plain harder. Not to mention the fact that jerks take the fun out of work.
But before we talk about how to get rid of jerks—or bad apples, as you call them—let’s be clear about who these people are.
The first are people with good performance and good values. With these winners, management’s job is easy. The second are employees who have neither good results nor good behaviors. Again, the job is easy: Show them the door. A third kind of employee may deliver weak results for a year but still exhibit all the behaviors you want, so managers should give these well-intentioned people a second or third chance.
Then there’s a fourth kind of employee, the one who delivers the numbers but doesn’t live the values. You know the type—who doesn’t? These high performers can be mean, secretive, or arrogant. Very often they kiss up and kick down. Some are stone-cold loners, while others are moody, keeping those around them in a kind of terrorized thrall.
And yet, too often Type 4s remain unscathed. Sure, their bosses might rebuke then, but things usually don’t change after that. There’s been no sting.
You can’t do that! If you have jerk problem, you have to stare it in the face. Company leaders must come to believe that jerks hurt the organization more than they help. While their results are great, their collateral damage to the culture and overall competitiveness is far greater.
Once leadership buys into that line of reasoning—and really feels it in the bones—getting rid of jerks is pretty straightforward…but the real clincher in ridding an organization of jerks is removing the ones you have and doing so with public fanfare. Every time you get rid of a jerk, don’t miss the opportunity to make it a teaching moment. Pretty soon people will learn that jerk behavior has a steep price indeed.
You can never stop trying to week out bad apples. They’re just rotten for business.
