Canadian Government Executive - Volume 23 - Issue 03

7x4.625_SecureKey_CanadianGovernmentExecutive_1-2H_Ad_PRINT.pdf 1 2017-03-07 10:16 AM March/April 2017 // Canadian Government Executive / 25 as you fill out the chart that the individual is a big pain but also important to immediate or future success. Although the remove-or improve title seems to present only two options, in fact a range exists. He mentions these: • You can wait to see if the situation corrects itself. This is rarely the best solution but should be carefully considered. • You can try to help the person correct the situation within the job he or she holds. • You could hire an external expert to help coach the individual. • There can be small modifications to the job to make it work bet- ter for everyone. • The person can be moved to a new position or new responsibil- ity within the same project or team. • The individual can be moved to a different part of the organiza- tion – one where he or she can be more effective, not merely transferring trouble to get it off your shoulders. • The person can be removed from the organization. Sometimes you must sacrifice one to save the whole. I found the book a little loose at points, veering from the focus on troublesome folks to more general management or “exceptional leadership,” as he calls it, not that the two are not linked but the advice in those sections was fairly commonplace and a firmer fo- cus seemed preferable. Still there are lots of ideas here to help you understand yourself and your situation when you oversee difficult people, and the section on Remove or Improve may be a huge stress saver some day for you. through your leadership, and you. Don’t ignore that informa- tion. Use it to make the organization better. But even with that outlook, you could face some difficult person- nel situations. He helps with a chart and process for what he calls “Decision Time – Remove or Improve,” helping to assess a specific employee. It revolves around six criteria to grade the individual: • The person’s ability to take feedback and improve. • Is the person well loved? (Sometimes such individuals have a huge following, sometimes a limited but fervent base of fans, and sometimes they are loathed by everyone. It helps to con- sider that.) • What are his or her collaboration skills? • How does the individual’s skills and experience fit with current needs? • How do those skills and experiences fit with future needs? • If the person is removed, how difficult will it be to acquire the skills you need in the time frame needed? He advises you to put those elements on a spreadsheet-like grid beside cells marked from – 2 to +2, the ratings you can assign for each criteria. He says often it will fairly quickly show you what you need to do as you study the scores. At the same time, he stresses: “The table will not make the decision. You have to make a decision. If you feel stuck on the horns of what the best option is… talk to someone who can help.” The questions in the chart force you to consider the consequenc- es. You probably don’t want a schism if the troublesome person is ejected, and you could face that if there are many supporters. You don’t want to lose skills that are important today, particularly if it will be difficult to replace the individual. Sometimes you realize web http://canadiangovernmentexecutive.ca/author/harveys/ The Leader’s Bookshelf