Are You Talent Repellent?...10 Must Do's For You...
But you definitely get worried when there is slightest of fret on your boss's face; you always take care of your boss's family more than your own; you are, always, the first person to get the glass of your boss filled with his favorite drink, which you know better than others, in parties; you always make a point to come earlier and leave after your boss in the office; you are always the first and best messenger for your boss who give deferred live count of the stories; You are eyes and ears of your boss. Which stupid will not yearn for the Managers like you?
You are the person which every boss dreams of. You have become omniscient because you are there much before all self professed talented managers arrived in this organization. They don't know anything, how can they when you are, the genius, is there to give innovation a new high? Who cares if you are a matter of laughing stock for the other employees but they respect you when they meet you.
Besides all these fine qualities, you have one extremely potent flair...You are excellent Talent Repellent. 'Talent Repellent' may not be the right word for you because talent is always non-existent in the organization until you recognizes one; and till date you haven't came across any talented individual right from the top to bottom except when you stand in front of the mirror!!!
There is serious talent crunch and you have taken a pledge to drive away fake, self professed talented individuals from the organization, irrespective of the functions they are in; but managers directly reporting to you, definitely, will bear much of the brunt.
Let me try to help you. Though I am not as gifted as you; neither have I exposure nor do I have wiliness to take a seat beside you. But I assure you that my some of the must-do's will make your job much easier. You may carry-on your pledge; after all you are the sole custodian of the organization. Those people are jerks who say that 'bad bosses seem to happen to good people everywhere'; you've staunchly believed in the fact that 'bad employees seem to happen to good bosses (like you) everywhere'.
You, being so flaired and gifted, might be doing many things to drive away talent but here are some of the Must Do's which are time tested and proven.
Recruit them promising an exciting job which, actually, is no-way near to your promise:
You must be an important person in overall recruitment process for new talent, especially for your own division. Show them the sky and assure them that there couldn't be better place and managers to work for in this world. You only know that you enjoy showing the romantic trailer of horror film.
But why should you recruit talent if you anyway wish to drive them away? I understand, you don't want yourself to be devoid of sadistic pleasure that you get by driving them away. Its assured that once they realize your greatness and understand their job. They'll leave no stone unturned to go away. After all that's what you want.
Always Believe That Talented people Care About Just Money :
Money is everything in this world. And talented people are no different than others. They just want money. But beware, don't give money at one go. You don't want them to become complacent and stick back for longer period. What about your pledge? Give them miniscule increments every year so that they have sense of achievement of moving forward every year.
Which talented person wants to be a part of excellent team, wish for challenging jobs, want flexibility in his profile, wish to learn and add value to him? Absolutely none.
This will ensure that they'll leave the organization for anything. And this is your final goal.
Transparency? What's this:
Never dare to bring to their notice the company's policies, company's performance and actual profitability. Why they should know all this? There is no need for people to understand this.
Never let them know how much their peers are earning. You love when they fret about this injustice. Don't do anything about the same. Your inaction is your best action.
Don't let your tongue slips and speaks about changes in the organization. Let them know by rumors and get raged within themselves. This is a sure way to drive them a step away.
Strategy isn't There Cup of Tea:
Let them know only what is required from them. Strategy, planning, budgeting, forecasting etc. are definitely not their domain. Who needs to know what is happening across the organization?
They can never match your shrewdness and business acumen. They are no better than time killers with stale, boring ideas in strategy meetings.
Strategy is your know-how only and it should be that way only.
Who needs Creativity and ideas?
Don't demonstrate excitement on novel ideas from them. It's you who know all the possible ideas beforehand. Sit on their ideas and don't promote the same to the group; look for an opportunity when you can pass the same as the result of your innovative & strategic thinking.
Idea theft definitely is not a widespread unethical corporate crime. You have to do this to ensure that they start looking out for the opportunities.
Talents Only Deserve Appreciations:
As I explained earlier also, you have not seen even a single talented individual in the organization except you in mirror; where the question of appreciation and rewards is? Don't appreciate or reward them for any achievement. Don't ever give a slightest signal to them that they are good. They will believe this and in turn will ask for salary rise, better perks, and better recognition.
You mustn't make the mistake of making them realize that they are talented employees any company would love to work with. Gradually, they themselves will lost in the herd of employees and take decision to leave one day. That's what you ultimately want.
Competition Among Peers is Good for Organization:
I know that your definition of competition is far from what people think; Instill the negativities among peers. Talk good about peers in person with them. I can understand what your 'good talks' would have been.
You are on the right track. Let them back stab each other. Let them compete for every damn thing, worthy or not-worthy. Don't stop them even if you can. This is sense of 'competitiveness' that you only infuse everyday in their mind. Competition is good and some causalities are inevitable. Either way you are going to be benefited.
Responsibility Makes, Authority Breaks:
Pass on all the responsibilities that you have with you. After all delegation is the hallmark of great manager. Responsibility is better for them, as they'll learn and get exposure to varied situations. You act as if you are their mentor. Don't ever let go any authority; after all what a manager is without authority?
Get the work done, that's why you are being paid for.
Never let them have control on their projects. Never allow them to plan. Keep on throwing the responsibilities and tasks without realizing human limitations. You are there to make their life tough with every passing day. That is required from you, or else, how you'll drive away the talented individuals.
Control is Better than Cure:
You know that you can't trust your employees. By nature every one of them is non reliable. They are always there to fleece company's hard earned money. They'll not wait for a second to indulge into all the unethical activities to rip off company's reputation. They need control, strict control.
You must come out with innovative ideas to control them. You should be aware about what they think, what they do, to whom they talk, what they talk etc.
Monitor their working hours strictly, when they come and when they leave. Don't let them attend to their personal issues, irrespective of their urgency, in working hours; its better for you to dive into their personal matters and shoot piercing personal comments about the same. In this way they will rant and rave and will work helplessly better. They will definitely try to get to the breathing space; and who knows better than you that the same is available only outside the organization.
Support Your Supporters:
This, definitely, is the last and final nail in the coffin. As you are smarter and better manager, you don't need people to come to you and poke their nose into your decisions. You know better than anybody else that your decisions are indisputable. You don't need any suggestions and unsolicited ideas from relatively fresh faces. After all you have not been playing rugby here for so many years.
You always believe in rewarding people who stands with you thick and thin in your decisions. You don't need anybody to come and give you better suggestion because there can't be any. You are ultimate, you are The Manager of this corporate world.
Though I have written some of the Must Do's but I know you are much ahead of them. You must not believe when Mr.Azim Premji says 'People Leave Managers, Not Organizations'. For you, people leave organizations because they can't match the expectations, they can't perform, most of all they can't understand the managers and leaders like you.
Also Don't heed to his words when he says 'There's the cost of finding a replacement. The cost of training the replacement. The cost of not having someone to do the job in the meantime. The loss of clients and contacts the person had with the industry. The loss of morale in co-workers. The loss of trade secrets this person may now share with others. Plus, of course, the loss of the company's reputation. Every person who leaves a corporation then becomes its ambassador, for better or for worse.' You are The Omnipotent Manager who can put off every loss. Just be yourself, on the mission to win, as if everyday is battle for you.
I hope you will keep working on your pledge to drive away the talented employees, and all the above steps will ensure that you'll retain only those who doesn't have any better place to go?? This is what you always wanted. Isn't it???
CXO Insights
