Lessons For Management

I placed Suzanne 15 months ago.

She called me and said, "You know, Tony, I really like this job and I really like most of the people that I work with. I'm doing well and I've gone beyond the expectations of the owners. In fact, I won rookie of the year award and am pretty happy."

"But when I first got here, my then boss said that he had discussed it with one of the owners that if I hit a certain sales number in my first six months. I would get something like an $8,000 bonus. He never put it in writing, but said that he had discussed it with the owners and would do it. Well, I hit my number and waited and waited and the bonus didn't come. After about a month, I emailed my boss and reminded him of what he had promised. He wrote me back and said he would ' look into it' and I didn't hear a thing about it for another month."

"A month later I wound up reporting to a different manager. She has been with the company for a long time and is well-respected. Since she wasn't involved in the agreement, I wrote my previous boss, current boss and the owner that was involved asking them when I could expect the $8,000."

"Now, keep in mind that I made about $180,000 last year. It isn't that I need the $8,000, but it's the fact that nobody seems to be concerned about it. After I wrote my previous boss, my new boss and the owner, the owner wrote back and said he'd look into it. The more I think about it the madder I get. I don't want to quit over $8,000, but I wanted your opinion. I've been owed the money now for nine months and nobody seems to care."

I explained to Suzanne that it wouldn't be a good idea to quit over this issue. She's doing well and although this is an irritating situation, it is not disastrous. She agreed and made it real clear to me that she didn't call me to suggest leaving. I think she wanted to simply vent and there are very few people she could do that with. We agreed that it would be a good idea for her to press everybody a little bit more about getting the $8,000.  It's nine months overdue.

I hear things like this all the time. I'm always amazed at how management and lots of organizations upset their employees over even minor promises that they don't live up to. I place salespeople and, for instance, I hear a lot that companies often don't publish sales commission programs for the year until three or four months after the year has started. Salespeople are expected to do their job, not knowing just how they are going to be paid. It frustrates them to no end. This kind of thing doesn't cause good salespeople to leave, but if you pile this issue on a lot of others, it sure makes some very unhappy. And it's a needless irritation.

Suzanne hung up the phone, admitting that she just wanted to vent. She appreciated me listening. But she’s still irritated over the $8,000. It isn't the money itself. It's the idea that she was told that she was going to receive the money and nobody seems to care.

These are the kind of things that will eventually cause good employees to leave. It's really unfortunate, because it's so simple to keep from happening.