Every group – business, family, church – has its dirty work. Some jobs are nasty by their very nature. It’s always painful to terminate someone’s employment, particularly when the person doesn’t expect it. No one enjoys taking a call from an angry customer or an unpaid creditor. Who cleans the toilets?
Other jobs are disliked because of their connotations. While making coffee for your spouse may be a pleasure, making coffee for the boss feels demeaning, unless he or she just as often makes coffee for you.
In dysfunctional organizations, leaders use their power to shift unpleasant tasks to others. Dirty work tends to be pushed down to the lowest possible level. You can be sure that, when leaders model this behavior, many others will take the same tack. Anyone who can push unpleasant jobs off on others, does so. Sometimes they push back. The energy some organizations waste in these kinds of contests is astronomical.
How dirty work is assigned is a key test for any group of people engaged in a common work. If dirty work is routed to the least powerful people in the organization, it breeds “me first” thinking and cynical attitudes. Selfishness among leaders breeds selfishness among everyone else.
In contrast, healthy organizations seek to assign work where it fits best. A healthy work environment promotes cooperation rather than buck-passing. Their leaders ensure that energy for the common work isn’t dissipated by the demoralization that stems from perceived unfairness.
Often the best criterion for assigning dirty work is “best fit with responsibilities.” For example, if disciplinary action needs to be taken with an employee, the supervisor responsible for that employee almost always should have the lead role. Other responsibilities, such as caring for a difficult customer, might be assigned based on who will do the best job. And making the coffee is best shared equally.
There are a couple of simple things that leaders can do to assure that dirty work is assigned wisely.
Set an example. You should do more than your share of any dirty work that needs to be done. Never hand a rotten job off to someone else unless it’s in the best interests of the organization to do so. When it is, take the time to explain your reasoning to the person affected, and offer to help in any way you can. This kind of approach can be transformational. It changes the context from “this is a rotten job” to “this is an important job.” On the other hand, if you are too selfish or too weak to face the tough jobs, why should anyone else strive for a higher standard?
Emphasize fairness with your managers. If you are setting the right example, make sure your managers know it’s important that they set the same example. If you find someone violating the code you agree upon, deal with it promptly and decisively. Unfairness is poisonous, and you need to expunge it whenever you find it.
Assure you are accessible. If people know that you want to be fair in all things, and that you will act if you learn about unfairness, they will come to you – if you are accessible. I’ve known leaders who boasted about their open door policy, but had a gatekeeper in front of their open door. If you want your door to be open, reassign the gatekeeper. Even better, purposefully wander around all areas of the office or shop floor on a regular basis. When you do, make sure you invite contact. When I ran a manufacturing plant, I scheduled time to walk the floor twice every day. Stopping to ask questions of the machine operators, fabricators, assemblers, and material handlers also opened the door for them to ask questions of me. I learned a lot in those conversations.
The risk you run by being accessible is that you’ll lose some time to someone who didn’t really need to see you. But the risk you run by being inaccessible is potentially catastrophic. When leaders become remote, they cut themselves off from direct information and rely on information that others have already processed. One of the people processing information for you may be making mistakes that will bring your company to its knees. Or he or she may be treating others in a way that is undermining your efforts to establish trust and openness.
So – who does the dirty work in your workplace?
Another one that hits home. The piece sure brings back memories, but still pertains today!
Know that you were/are always a good example and supportive... Thanks
Another great article filled with practical tips. FWIW, I almost always make the coffee for our staff, because nobody makes it better than I do. I’ve tried training others, but their coffee is still sub-par. Now it’s dawning on me that perhaps they make it that way on purpose so that I’ll wind up being the regular coffee maker. I’ve been out-foxed!