The Jerk Problem–Tip of the Week

I must give credit for this post to a colleague, Michael Maslanka, a partner in the Dallas office of Ford & Harrison and the editor of the Texas Employment Law Letter.  He also writes a column called “Work Matters” for In-House Texas.  One of his recent columns was titled “No Jerks Allowed.”  I encourage you to read the entire article.  In the meantime, let me give you a few of Mike’s nuggets.

All organizations employ jerks, so we all have to deal with them.  If we fall into the jerk category, then other employees have to deal with us.  Dealing with jerks takes a lot of time away from doing what an employee is supposed to be doing.

If we work closely with a jerk, particularly someone to whom we report, there’s a decent chance we’ll become one, too–at least, as far as work is concerned.  We often act like others, particularly those higher up in the food chain.

All employees have positive and negative experiences at work.  Jerks don’t cause the positive.  They promote the negative.  And here’s the problem.  Negative interactions have a much more powerful impact on our mood than the positive ones.  We dwell on them.  It takes a while to get over them.  We’re not doing what we’re supposed to be doing–at least, not doing it well.

We don’t need a no-asshole rule.  We need a nurturing culture that runs on automatic pilot.  It’s the “we” and “us” culture, as opposed to the “I” and “them” culture.

Whenever possible, in order to avoid jerkdom, deal directly in person with subordinates, peers, and superiors.  Curtail email and telephone communication as much as possible.  It’s easier to be a jerk via the computer or telephone (especially using voicemail).  Encourage–then require if necessary–the people you supervise to manage face-to-face.  When email or the telephone is necessary, make sure your employees are using proper etiquette.  If they don’t know what that means, teach them. 

From an employment law standpoint, a jerk is much more likely to engage in bullying and unlawful harassment.  Keep a jerk around long enough, and he/she will get you sued.

A jerk doesn’t like free expression, so the people who work for him/her learn to keep their mouths shut.  Such a result is the worst thing that can happen for any business.  It’s a creativity killer.  It makes collegiality impossible.  It’s plain sad. 

Jerks can’t make the transition (that some suggest is going on right now in many workplaces) from the “market norm” (paying X amount of dollars for Y amount of work) to the ”social norm” (employees being willing to make sacrifices for their employer but expecting something similar in return, such as understanding when extra days off are needed).  You get a lot more work out of the latter group.

You can look at the jerk problem from a lot of different angles.  You can accept or not accept the market norm-social norm dichotomy.  You can embrace or not embrace the need for greater personal contact in the workplace than our stultifying technology allows these days.  You can shrug off what Mike says in his article and what I’m saying in this post by insisting that all you’re interested in is the bottom line, making a profit, being a successful company.  Okay.  But here’s the deal.  A jerk will interfere with productivity.  A bunch of jerks will shave millions off your bottom line.  A whole bunch of jerks will prevent your company from being the winning success story you want it to be.

And here’s the tip.  Don’t hire jerks.  When you do, try to convert them to civility.  If that doesn’t work, fire them.  You’ll have a better workplace.  Your workplace problems will be less likely to become employment law problems.    

1. 

   John Phillips says:

   May 8, 2008 at 12:31 pm

   Thanks for the mention. Thanks also to your fellow Texan, Mike Maslanka, for giving me the idea for this post.