Avoiding Tough Management Actions – layoffs, discipline, terminations

We all put things off; some have minor consequences such as de-cluttering the garage or picking clothes up at the cleaners. Others have far greater consequences such as those we have responsibility for as a manager. It’s no surprise then when I write that this issue always comes up in my coaching sessions with managers.

We avoid what we’re uncomfortable doing. And this was brought home to me this weekend when I committed to rearranging the shelves in my living room. I tried putting on some favorite Jazz CD’s, decided I better catch up on the news, then went surfing the net, baked banana bread, did laundry… Well, you get the idea. I did anything to avoid what I was uncomfortable doing. Now please see if this is relevant to your situation: You’ve had to do it before; You did it fairly well; and the stress of avoidance was almost as bad as the task.

The emotional attachment we have to the outcome is what causes all our anxiety. One of my clients had to layoff three people in his department before the end of the year. Realizing the holidays added an additional consideration, he put it off until the last minute. By that time, everyone in the office was stressed wondering about their jobs, he didn’t give himself sufficient time to plan a gracious exit for his laid-off employees and it left the employees who are staying resentful and distrustful.

I’ll write some more about layoffs, discipline and terminations in future blogs. Suffice it to say now that no matter the decision, no matter the action that must be taken, remember, your mom was right. If you pull that bandage off quickly, it will hurt less in the long run.

BLOG RX: Are you thinking emotionally or strategically? Tough decisions and their required actions are less stressful and have much better outcomes when you prepare for the outcome you want. The next time you find yourself avoiding something, ask yourself these three questions:

1. What am I really avoiding – is it a decision or its related action?
2. What am I really afraid of?
3. What’s the worst thing that can happen and how can I strategically avoid it?

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 4th, 2010 at 2:57 pm and is filed under Rx For Management. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.