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Submitted by dan west on
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Hi Everyone,

I'm at the point where I want to demote a manager that is failing back to his previous role or terminate him. What would you do in a similar situation?

Here are the details:
This person was one of the top 3 on my team about 2 years ago. He had ownership of a small area, but he knew it inside and out. It was to the point where I could delegate tasks to him and only check up once or twice because I knew the task would be done well and on time.

Around 1.5 years ago I promoted him to manager and gave him functional control over a larger area. This was when the problems started. Communication has suffered, he started dropping tasks and frequently redirected resources to lower priority tasks. I chalked a lot of this up to the growing pains of a new manager and continued to give feedback along the way.

However, after 1.5 years I would have expected this to be resolved. Frankly, I should have never let it go this long. I have been actively coaching the person for 6 months now and I still see know meaningful improvements. His response to coaching over the last few months has been to obfuscate day to day activities and hope I don't notice. Needless to say, my relationship with this former top-performer is severely damaged.

My dilemma is that he really was a star performer when he had a much smaller scope. Knowing the state of the economy and the fact that he was such a good performer before he got the promotion makes me want to at least try to sell him on the idea of a demotion. If he can embrace the change, it will be a win-win for him and the company.

HMac's picture

To answer the choice you put forth in the title of the forum: Demote, don't terminate.

Or at least - as you put it - try to sell him on the demotion. He may find great relief: if he's any good, he knows he's not cutting it as a manager.

You have to be careful how you will communicate it to the larger team (maybe something along the lines of "In these challenging financial times, we need to make sure everybody is in the best possible position to make the most difference for the company and bring the maost value to our customers." It might sound like BS - but if it truly IS a win-win, that logic will eventually carry the day.

The other thing to be careful about is that when he returns to the position he doesn't behave destructively: talking YOU down, acting like a victim, etc.

Finally, no matter how this turns out, spend time looking in the mirror: did you make the right choice to promote him in the first place? Did you provide the support he needed to succeed BEFORE it became a series of corrective discussions?

Good luck,
-Hugh

jhack's picture

There are a series of podcasts on this issue:

http://www.manager-tools.com/2006/02/how-to-fire-someone-well-almost?#

Have you listened to these? They really address your situation directly.

John

dan west's picture
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Thanks for the feedback. I already have evidence of the guy talking me down. So this particular individual may have sunk his own ship.

Finally, no matter how this turns out, spend time looking in the mirror: did you make the right choice to promote him in the first place? Did you provide the support he needed to succeed BEFORE it became a series of corrective discussions?

I've actually spent the last few weeks doing exactly this. I firmly believe that I made a mistake in promoting the guy. There were a few signs that I glossed over before he was promoted. Flexibility being one of his biggest weaknesses.

There are a few things I could have done better. If I had to do it over again, I would:
- Be more insistent that he take specific training
- Work closer with him on seeing the big picture
- Underscore the importance of crisp communication

As an aside, one major strike early on was that he said he started nodding off during an MT podcast ("The Basics" series).

US41's picture

If you demote, don't hang him publicly or you've just fired him slowly. Mask it with a re-org. Take another look at the whole department, shuffle some things around, and put this guy over a smaller group.

I'm not convinced from reading this you have really been giving feedback and coaching using the manager tools recommendations. If you had, this all would have bubbled up to a head in a matter of three weeks instead of 1.5 years.

Are you sure it is your employee who is failing?

US41

HMac's picture

Based on your follow-up comments.

So, terminate.

dan west's picture
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If there is a demotion it will be with a re-org.

I'm not convinced from reading this you have really been giving feedback and coaching using the manager tools recommendations. If you had, this all would have bubbled up to a head in a matter of three weeks instead of 1.5 years.
I'm relatively new to MT, so I haven't employed coaching or O3s in the exact method described in the podcasts. However, I can say I've done O3s religiously since I became a manager a little over 5 years ago. I've also had several comments from former employees along the lines of, "I may not agree with everything you say, but there is never a question of where I stand with you."

Are you sure it is your employee who is failing?
The fact that the employee is in this position is not solely his failure. It's mine as well. My role as a shepherd of the team is very important to me. It's what gets me out of bed and into the office every day. I've certainly made some mistakes along the way with this employee. I've essentially taken a great employee, put him in a position were he is failing and now I'm trying to undo it. This is bad on all counts and it's a lesson I'll never forget.

jhack's picture

You can't change the past, but you can change the future...

Regardless of how this turns out, please listen to the basics podcasts and implement the core of one-on-ones, feedback and coaching. These are surprisingly powerful tools.

Good luck, and let us know how things progress...

John

asteriskrntt1's picture

... to add to the great advice already given here, perhaps you need to add the DISC model to your tool kit.

Your direct's talking you down may be his way of begging you to get him out of this situation.

*RNTT

calangst's picture

It sounds to me that this was someone you respected in his prior role and with whom you had strong trust.

Looking to the future, I think you should give the person the choice, A. 3-6 months to make well defined progress with all of your support, coaching, and training available and if not be let go or B. Return to his prior role without any cover story but just a frank admission that managing is harder than it looks and that a individual contributer role is a better fit.

See what happens.

Chris

dan west's picture
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Hi Everyone,

First off, thanks for the great comments and feedback.

After weighing all of the pros and cons of demoting versus firing, plus several candid discussions with the employee, I demoted the employee. This was done as part of a greater re-org, so the employee did not lose much face within the org. The employee understands the reasoning behind the change.

I am going through all of "The Basics" now and modifying my approaches/techniques where necessary.