June 27, 2006

Were These Employees Really Lazy and Incompetent?

Here’s a true story.

A few months ago, a man was offered the job of Chief Technology Officer (CTO) at a small technology company.

He was excited about the job - it was an opportunity to help commercialize an exciting new technology and to grow a fledgling startup into a profitable business.
 
But there was one problem.

The staff, the CEO warned him, were “incompetent and lazy.”

In fact, one of the reasons the CTO was being hired was to get rid of the “dead wood”.

“Frankly,” said the CEO to the new CTO, “you’ll probably have to sack the lot of them.”

Sure enough, when the CTO started work he found the staff barely doing their jobs properly, seemingly unaware of their roles and responsbilities, and totally unmotivated.

The CTO had to agree with his boss: it was likely he would have to replace the entire team.

But before he did that, there were a few other fundamental problems that he needed to address.

Like providing the staff with the tools to do their jobs!

The CTO was shocked to find that everything the team were using to do their work… they had brought with them from home!

They were even using their own computers, which were hopelessly inadequate for the work they needed to do.

There wasn’t any stationery and instead of writing on whiteboards, they were using the windows! (Yes, the windows)

The CTO couldn’t believe that a company could even run like this, but he didn’t have the luxury of wondering about it. He quickly organized new computers, stationery, whiteboards and other basics.

And then something strange happened…

When the tools arrived the CTO immediately noticed a change among the staff.

They started coming to work on time.

They looked happy and excited.

And they looked at him as if he was some kind of saint.

And suddenly, their work was much better too.

It was too early to tell - and the CTO still needed to know more about the talents and skills (or lack thereof) of his employees before he could reach any conclusions - but he couldn’t help but wonder…

 …could one of the reasons why the staff were “lazy and incompetent” be because… they had never had the proper tools to do their jobs?

Does this story ring any bells for you?

It certainly does for me.

I firmly believe that one of the vital keys to managing employees effectively is providing them with the tools they need to do their jobs.

It seems SO OBVIOUS… but how many companies and managers miss this?

I discuss this in detail in my How To Manage People System. (I even give an example that I personally witnessed when I worked as a lawyer.)

If you’re serious about managing your employees more effectively and becoming more successful in your own business, career and personal life, you really must get your hands on this employee management system.

In fact, the price of the System will be going up by USD $30 on Saturday 1st July PST (United States Pacific Standard Time). So be sure to secure your copy now before 12 Midnight Friday 30th June PST.

Back to our CTO. The story isn’t over by far. There was something else he discovered that caused him to completely question his initial assumptions about his team.

I’ll tell you about it next week!