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The Critical Lesson Managers Should Take from the David Letterman Affair

 

by Glenn Shepard

October 6, 2009

 

 

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Raises are earned,

not given.

Glenn Shepard

 

Dear Glenn,   

I have two employees whose personalities are different and can't get along.

   Should I as a manager, modify the schedule so that the two employees do not have to work together?

Tina in Kentucky

 

Dear Tina,   

No way. Part of being a professional is doing your best, even when you don't feel like it, which includes working with people we don't especially like.

       Sit them down separately, and have one of these  "Rules of Work" talks with them.

    Then sit them down together and have the same talk, explaining that they will not be expected to go to lunch together or gather around a fire and hold hands while singing "Kum Bay Ya My Lord".

      But they will be expected to be courteous and cooperative with each other while at work. Otherwise, they'll have to find another place of employment.

      Then ask each point blank, "Can I count on you to do this?"

      Also, because your question was chosen this week, you'll get your choice of prizes in our prize closet. There's an 18x24 color poster in there that reads "Professionalism means doing your best even when you don't feel like it". This would be an excellent reminder to hang on your office or break room wall. 

      Thanks for your question.

Glenn In Nashville
 

Click here to submit a question. If it's selected for publication, you'll win your choice of eight items in our

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I’m not a David Letterman fan – always been a Leno guy.

 

So when the news broke last week that Letterman allegedly has a private bedroom at his office where he has liaisons with young female employees, it really didn’t faze me.

 

What shocked me was that a producer from 48 Hours thought he could extort $2,000,000 by threatening to go public with the story.

 

Why this Einstein thought Letterman would pay to keep this silent is baffling. While I don’t condone what Letterman has done, it’s my understanding that none of the parties were underage or married at the time, which is more than can be said for Roman Polanski or Bill Clinton.

 

What’s even more baffling is that the guy took a check for the extortion money, and tried to cash it. Clearly not the sharpest tool in the shed.

 

Letterman’s handlers made the right call by setting up a sting operation to nab the blackmailer, and then having Letterman hit the issue head-on during his show. His Nielsen ratings shot up by 38%, which means he and CBS are laughing their way to the bank.

 

Regardless of what you think about David Letterman, there’s a great lesson in this for managers.

 

Employees sometimes give ultimatums such as “If I don’t get a raise, I’ll quit”. Because these are often good employees who are as talented as the Emmy Award nominated producer who tried to blackmail Letterman, too many managers make the mistake of giving in.

 

Even if the employee is worth more than they're getting paid, using ultimatums to get more means they’re not such a good employee after all.

 

They’ve just become what I call a “terroristic employee” who’s trying to usurp all your power by threatening the worst consequence they can think of if you don’t give in to their demands.

 

If you do give in, you send the message that this is the way to get a raise, and it will happen again.

 

Instead, teach your team the right way to get a raise, which is to make their case by:

 

1. Demonstrating what they have done to make themselves more valuable to your company (just being there for another year doesn't cut it)

 

2. Doing some market research and showing what other employers are paying for similar positions

 

3. Asking, but not demanding

 

This creates a win-win for everybody.

 

If they get the raise, you keep a good employee and they get more money.

 

Even if they don’t get the raise, at least they haven’t boxed themselves into a corner so that they have to leave. They can find another job, or stay with you and try for more money again in the future.

 

Asking for more money when someone has earned it is okay, but using ultimatums to get it is never acceptable.

 

 

 

To Your Success,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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