Firm, Fair And Friendly: Rules To Manage By

Firm, Fair And Friendly: Rules To Manage By

Firm, fair and friendly was how one consultant I interviewed described how business executives should manage employees. “With a particular emphasis on firm. Most managers are not firm,” he said.

We had been talking at length about “lean management” strategies, the topic of this month’s cover story. The textbook definition of lean management is a methodical examination and improvement of business processes to increase organizational efficiency. Layoffs are not part of the lean philosophy. Yet, at times, when a manager takes the reins and introduces lean thinking and strategies into a company (or any new management system for that matter), some employees are intimidated by change. One distributor’s salesperson quit after his commission was reworked to include greater incentives to jumpstart his stagnant sales.

The distributor gave the salesperson all the tools to carry out his job, and was firm and fair in what he asked, but the salesperson refused to comply — or even try. This is not a failure of the management system itself. In fact, it’s a natural way to weed out poor performers.

“Cut the fat, not the muscle,” as the consultant put it.

Sounds harsh, but really it goes back to being a firm, fair and friendly manager. It’s your job to help employees do their jobs. They win, the company wins.