Rolling out new policies: Right way and wrong way

I remember the day our Senior Vice President of Human Resources decided each department had a weekly staff meeting. He thought the meetings would give employees a stronger connection to the company, thereby become more loyal and dedicated. Being part of the HR Department at the time, our team could not be exempted from the policy. 

Each Friday we would have a departmental meeting during which we would discuss any news about our company and review the challenges and accomplishments of the week

Occasionally there would be new direction, typically based on the most recent book our leader had read or the latest concepts being presented at CEO conferences. We called them “flavors of the month” as the lifespan of these ideas would be sold out for the traditional methods/flavors before the month was over.

The meeting was led by our Divisional Vice President when there was good news, great news, or no news to be shared. If there was bad news, the directors would share leading the meeting. They would occasionally lead the meeting if our DVP had a pressing report to prepare or other urgent matter that took precedence.

One Friday the directors started out the meeting. As usual when they led off, we would all wonder if they had gotten the cue to conduct the meeting because of a pressing issue or if it was because there was bad news. We would listen intently at the beginning of the meeting to see who could guess which it was before the others. There was no prize, just bragging rights. If bad news was coming, they would wait until the end of the meeting. Our early indication would be in the demeanor of the lieutenants. If they were tense and serious, we knew a shoe was on the edge of the desk and soon would be on the floor. 

As this Friday morning’s meeting progressed, we determined our SVP remained behind his closed door this morning because of an important matter with the top brass. The meeting was going well, and the MCs were in a great mood. We were not expecting to hear of urgent projects or unpaid overtime.

After going through the standard agenda, we got to the new business. Jennifer announced a major new initiative. She explained the company was making a move to show employees how valuable they were to the entire organization. As such, they wanted us to know there was a new “open door policy”. In other words, we were able to speak to anyone that ranked higher than us at any time, provided, of course, we honored the chain of command. Anything was open for discussion. We could discuss ideas for improvement, problems that were causing stress, career objectives, or anything else on our mind. 

The tell-tale sign

Let me point out once again that during this meeting to announce an open-door policy to show the commitment of upper-level management, our Senior Vice President was locked in his office. We now had an open-door policy, but the closed door off to the side of the area where we had huddled for the meeting sent a powerful opposing message.

This was not the first- or last-time upper management immediately countered a message with not-so-subliminal messages. 

On three different occasions top management would issue a relaxed dress code. Each time they had apparently come across the concept that employees preferred business casual attire. Each time the policy was announced employees would pay attention to the president and CEO to see what they wore. Each time they remained in suits, as did the entire C-level of management. 

What message did the top-level send the troops? One certainly could not conclude they were really serious about their new policy. The policies, designed to improve employee morale, were actually causing resentment and disconnecting the layers of management.

This is an excerpt from “Life’s Leadership Lessons” a collection of 53 anecdotal leadership lessons, each with an anecdote and the application of the topic in your everyday life. It is designed for use in weekly staff meetings or for personal development.

About the author:

Rick Weaver has half a century’s experience in leadership development in retailing. He founded Max Impact Corporation, a leadership and business development consultancy company in 2002. His major accomplishments include working himself from stock clerk to director at a Fortune 50 retail chain and building a $40MM+ construction company in under 5 years. Today Max Impact offers staffing services as a franchisee of Patrice & Associates providing Executive Search, Management Recruiting, and Contract Staffing services.