How to retrain a staff that was never held accountable

 How to retrain a staff that was never held accountable

 Ask Alice

Question:

I am a senior director managing the administration and operations side of a professional services firm. I recently lost one of my more senior managers to a competitor, and I’m managing his team until I find a replacement.

To my surprise — and disappointment — he was pretty lax about managing his staff for the last few years, and the level of professionalism and accountability is sorely lacking. The problem behaviors include rampant unexcused absenteeism, tardiness, and a blatant disregard for company policies and procedures.

When I question their decisions, the employees turn combative. How can I get this team in shape for the new manager?

Alice Says:

Let’s look at the silver lining around this thundercloud: During your search for a new manager, you’re in charge and will be making all the decisions regarding team performance.

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Here’s what you should do:

  1. Start by making your expectations clear on the basics — attendance, dress code, work hours, paperwork, and so on.
  2. Assume that the staff lacks an understanding of the “right ways” to do things, since it sounds like performance standards have been lenient for a while now. Yes, everyone will grumble, but this should help you determine who will adjust to your new leadership style and who will continue to buck the system.
  3. Expect initially that the majority will resist compliance to rules and regulations. But if you’re firm in your negative feedback and unrelenting in the consequences, most will fall in line.
  4. Be prepared to let some staff go. You will inevitably encounter a small cadre of resistors who will fight you every step of the way. Your only recourse is to fire the most egregious offender (but please, do this with guidance and counsel of your HR and legal teams to avoid any wrongful termination headaches). Once the staff realizes you mean business, they will adjust to the rules or eventually elect to work elsewhere.
  5. Ask yourself how this happened in the first place. How were you oblivious to the fact that the prior manager was not doing his or her job? Make sure you implement some kind of oversight process so that the new manager maintains your standards of acceptable behavior.

Remember, the staff will be testing the new manager to see if they can return to their old ways. Whether it is periodic walk-throughs, internal client feedback, or other methods, you need to be more in touch with the line operations to make sure you are not repeating this headache every few years.

Alice Waagen is president of Workforce Learning, a leadership development company that since 1997 has provided executives with the skills and knowledge they need to build positive and productive businesses. Waagen has a passion for working with leaders to identify their successful leadership practices as well as to grow their knowledge and skills to increase their impact on the business. She consults with leadership teams to coach them into building better internal partnerships to achieve results.
Loan forgiveness

Help! My Student Loans are Due and I am Broke!

When you finish college or for that matter drop below half-time enrollment, a stopwatch starts. If you, like 60% of those attending college, borrow to help cover costs, the day of reckoning is right around the corner. Direct Subsidized and Unsubsidized loans as well as Federal Stafford loans have a six month grace period before payments are due. PLUS loans have no grace period.

Your student loans can’t be cancelled because you didn’t finish your degree or you didn’t get the job you wanted.  Repayment of student loans is just like any other loan: car, home, etc. Make the payments or else. Failure to make payments can seriously harm your credit score and may result in wage and tax return garnishment.

Of over approximately one trillion dollars in outstanding student loan debt, almost 10% is past due, and the default rate is rising dramatically. Of every five student loan borrowers, two become delinquent in the first five years of repayment.

Where’s the Relief?

  • The U.S. government has developed several programs, through the Department of Education, to reduce or even forgive student loan debt. These programs consider income as well as the career chosen by the student upon entering the workplace. The most liberal loan forgiveness programs involve working in public service. In some cases, if a borrower has a history of on-time payments, the balance remaining after ten years of public service is totally forgiven.
  • The Teacher Loan Forgiveness program will allow a forgiveness of up to $17,500 of qualified loans after 5 years of full-time teaching experience.
  • Certain areas of the U.S. are offering student loan reductions to incentivize graduates to move to their communities. For example, in certain Kansas Rural Opportunity Zones, the State will pay student loan payments in equal shares over five years equal to 20% of the outstanding balance, up to $15,000.
  • Under the federal Income-Based Repayment Plan, monthly payments of student loans are capped at 15% of a borrower’s income. The Plan also cancels any remaining debt after 25 years.  An additional Pay as You Earn option brings the payments to as low as 10% of the borrower’s disposable income with remaining balance forgiven after 20 years.

What’s the Plan?

Ok, we have looked at a few of the options available to help you pay off your student loans. You can apply for these programs directly or utilize a student loan counselling provider to walk you through the process. These ideas should be considered in the quest to pay off your loans.

Plan and budget loan repayment as part of your future financial obligations. A budget that considers your housing, transportation, food, entertainment, loan repayment and savings compared to your income, a critical part of your own personal financial planning. Mapping out a serious budget is the best way to realistically approach all of the financial aspects of getting your career in motion. There are many apps available at as well as to take the chaos out of paying your bills. Download one and give it a spin.

  Pete VanSon is a certified public accountant who specializes in human resource related businesses and consulting. Pete works with studentloanre.org to help former students find solutions for their debt burden. He can be reached at