Ask Andi: Many employees get comfortable then act like they’re irreplaceable. They have grown into important roles. But that kind of attitude isn’t good for the company. Are long-time employees replaceable?
Thoughts of the Day: Make great employees irreplaceable. Build an organization of team players. Give people goals and challenges. No matter how key an employee seems to be, everyone is replaceable. Use regular reviews to let people where they stand. It all comes down to what you’re willing to accept. Whether or not you’re willing to make and enforce demands.
Find and keep irreplaceable employees
A team of employees focused on a common goal, working together to understand and overcome a set of challenges, can accomplish substantially more than any single individual. Assign all employees to teams. Look for opportunities to have people overlap duties and back up other positions.
For example, target isolated people, either by job function or by personal choice. For starters, ask them to join a group project, with a clearly defined goal and a leader who is good at including team members. Make it clear that part of their performance review is based on how well they perform as a team member. Ask the team leader for regular updates. If necessary, provide one-on-one counseling to the people you’re working to turn into collaborators.
Sometimes you may run into a fit issue: as in, the persons you’re counseling are having trouble fitting in as productive team members. Document the work they do. Start cross-training others to do some, or all, of their job. Your responsibility is to the company overall. Key players can be replaced with enough documentation and cross-training.
Achieve job security or be hard to replace
Meet individually and explain that sub-par performance on a team could get in the way of making progress in the company. If the behavior is especially disruptive, or if you’ve been through multiple counseling sessions and there’s no real progress, make sure that person knows that they could be facing consequences up to, and including, termination, if they don’t shape up. Don’t be subtle at this stage. Make sure the message gets across.
At the same time that you’re telling people they’re in trouble, post their jobs and look for potential replacement candidates. Many times managers and business owners hesitate to draw the line with disruptive or uncooperative employees because they fear no one else can do the job. Looking for replacements, and training others to do some, or all, of the job, will give you options.
Meanwhile, conduct reviews once or twice a year. Try to keep people on their toes by finding the balance between giving them new tasks to master, and allowing them sufficient time to get good at existing assignments. Everyone should have a mix of some new things to learn, some things they can do really well, and a bunch of things that they’re working towards mastering.
Step up when needed
Set the tone for the company as you conduct reviews. Give irreplaceable people realistic goals. Put it in the context of what the company has to achieve in the upcoming year. After that, ensure success. Likewise, mastering new goals is essential to that progress. Be irreplaceable.
Make time to review company results. Plan out what’s needed for the company going forward. Demand excellence from everyone around you. Start with yourself. Create a culture of accountability, responsibility. Strive to achieve it.
In conclusion, limit the time you spend with marginal performers, energy suckers, and self-serving individuals. Recognize and reward the people who perform. Promote collaboration and cooperation. Act in the best interests of the company. Give them your time. Irreplaceable team players are your future.
Looking for a good book? Try HR from the Heart: Inspiring Stories and Strategies for Building the People Side of Great Business, by Martha Finney.
