Undeniable, Unacceptable, Unbelievable !!!

Our absenteeism initiative was extremely successful, reducing lost time by over 50% the first month. Many reps improved, but many couldn't break the habits formed under the prior management, or rather the lack of. The culture was changing, and so did the look of the floor. Many faces were gone, while many others were hanging on by a thread.

We still had a long way to go.

I’ve always stated that I've never termed anyone, they term themselves. It's my job to ensure that the expectations and accountabilities are fair, clear-cut, and decisive. It’s this process, that allows me to do the right thing and sleep at night. Reps were beginning to understand my expectations. While some reps had left, my leadership team remained intact. This to, was soon going to change.

Undeniable

Despite our improvements, the site was still in a huge state of flex. The removal of the reps limitless freedom caused a great level of animosity against my leadership team. It also became clear that there was a network of informal leadership that existed within the site that was actively working to undermine our efforts. While I do refer to these guys as leaders, remember that Hitler, Stalin, Mussolini, and Attila the Hun were all leaders themselves.

These "leaders" represented the old way of doing things, and there existence would prevent true organizational growth.

The lack of strong leadership inadvertently cultivated the environment that allowed this group to thrive. It was equivalent to almost a prison mentality consisting of a network of barn bosses pecking orders, and attitudes you couldn't knock down with a hammer. While these guys were hard-core, they were very cautious and reserved around me. It was clear I was a threat, but my sups were not?

During a business as usual day, I observed a supervisor giving one of our more aggressive barn bosses a directive. She absolutely let this sup have it. She chewed him up one side and down the other. The supervisor tried to reason with her, and sensing defeat, I watched him leave.

Unacceptable!

Who did this rep think she was, and what the heck is my supervisor doing by not handling the issue. I immediately grabbed my sup and told him to pull the rep down now and address the issue. I was furious!

I watched him ask her to log out. I was distracted with another issue for about 5 minutes. I looked up to see the rep and my sup right in front of me. My sup looked at me, said here she is, and then he turned around and walked off...

Unbelievable!