The Hidden Cost of Bad Managers

THE COST OF DOING BUSINESS WITH THE BAD MANAGER WALLY

The CEO does not care about your “feelings” about the bad manager or the way that the program is or is not working. Your CEO wants to know the facts. Give them the facts; they are easier to provide than you think. And the facts are not what you think. It is not about what Wally did; it is about what Wally costs.

I went in complaining about Wally. Complaining about everything he did. Day after day after day. Employees called me in droves day after day after day, complaining about Wally, and I did what any good CHRO does: I carried the torch of the complaint. Each time, I walked around that corner back to the CEO’s office and told him every detail of how Wally did this or that, and can you believe it. The CEO couldn't believe it, but he also couldn't do anything about it because he didn't have the data he really needed.

Looking back, the CEO did not want my details, whining and complaining. What the CEO needed to see was the cost of doing business with Wally. What it costs in stress, time, and everyone involved with Wally and the productivity.

Let me ask you. Have you been talking to your CEO for months about how your company, Wally? And all the problems he is causing in the organization. Wally talks poorly about people, doesn't respond to emails, assumes things that aren't true, and is honestly horrible at managing people. I am sure the list goes on. You may have even gotten harassment and discrimination complaints you had to investigate, but found out there was no harassment, just a bad manager.

It happens all the time. People come to HR with the problem, and like any good HR person they want to “solve” the problem and never go back to it again. They march into the CEO’s office with “feelings about it.” Seems logical, but likely the CEO already knows and is not doing anything about Wally.

Not everyone is equipped to deal with a bad manager. And honestly, most of our population lives in fear of confrontation, which has led us to a place where things go unmanaged and unaddressed, and it costs organizations billions of dollars a year.

What if we walked into the CEO’s office with numbers? The cost of doing business with Wally. Here is what I recommend: what is the positive or negative return on investment of Wally? Show the numbers, show the data, and show what it is costing; it changes the conversation, and your CEO will be the one to start losing sleep at night.

The goal is that your CEO does not want feelings - they want numbers that show why this or that is or is not working. When you can show them that the training program you implemented has increased retention, productivity, or reduced safety risks, that is when the CEO starts to see the value. If a program isn't working and people are afraid to eliminate it, show the program's cost and the savings (or costs) of eliminating it.

When you show the CEO the data, it strips out the “feelings” HR likes to include and makes it applicable to the bottom line. At the end of the day, the CEO cares about the bottom line.

Have you asked your CEO what keeps him up at night? I am guessing it is not your feelings.