What We Can Learn From the Burger King Bath Caper

Yesterday morning I woke up to my regular routine of CNN and coffee. I don’t know why I do this to myself, because I almost always see something I could have gone all day without exposing my tender little soul to. Yesterday’s Dread Treat o’ the Day was the YouTube film clip of the Burger King employee celebrating his birthday by taking a bath in the utility sink of a Xenia, OH, Burger King.

A tattooed guy sitting starkers in the suds just isn’t my idea of celebrating joy in the workplace. And it really bums me out. Why? Because, as a consultant specializing in employee engagement, all my work revolves around my core principle: The workplace is where excellent employers can partner with high-passion employees to save the world. It can be one vaccine at a time, or one Whopper at a time. When both sides of the employment equation (employers and employees) treat their shared enterprise with respect, amazing things can happen.

So when I see examples of low-passion people abusing the privilege of serving the world, I see evidence of people giving up on their dream – and, by extension, themselves. And that breaks my heart. By giving up on the dream of excellence for yourself, you’re wrecking it for everyone around you. Mediocrity is like food coloring. Just the tiniest drop in a glass of clear water stains the whole shebang.

My first assumption here is that when someone offered this guy a job, they gave up the dream right then and there. This morning, watching him interviewed post-ablution for what must have been a local tv news show, he’s wearing goth make-up, his hair bundled in a configuration of piglets, and on his hands are fingerless gloves with a skeleton design on them for a trompe l’oeils effect. I’m wondering to myself: Did he dress that way for the job interview as well? In which case, I’m wondering how he got the job to begin with. Or did he just slowly start assembling this new personality in hopes that no one will notice the gradual transformation? In which case, I’m wondering, how come no one pointed out that wearing goth makeup and little piglets might scare away the customers?

Employees who spit on the dream scare away more than just the customers. They disenfranchise the aforementioned high-passion employees. Can you imagine how demoralizing it must have been to work side-by-side with this guy, if you really care about your job and your customers? Can you imagine how demoralizing it must be right now to work at that particular store, knowing that his shift manager was also fired – perhaps unfairly – because she had to keep her eyes on the cash registers and serve the customers rather than stop this idiot from running amok in the back?

Who hired this guy anyway?

Every hiring manager who works in a company that deeply cares about its customers and its culture owes it to the current employees to continue hiring well and wisely. Even if that means holding out for just the right culture fit. As former Apple chief talent officer Dan Walker has been known to say, “I’d rather have a hole than an [well, I think you might be able to finish this sentence; if you’re struggling, email me and I’ll whisper it in your ear].”

And what about chasing away future high-passion employees? Can you imagine how ridiculous the company will look if it now has to include in its employee handbook, “There will be no taking of baths in Burger King utility sinks.” Just having such a policy (or something like it) would be demoralizing to quality employees and candidates who would be wondering, “Does this company hire the kinds of people who need to be told this? Maybe I’d better keep looking.”

By the way, just in case you’re stopped by the notion of Burger King actually saving the world, let me tell you a story. When I was a little girl (around 8), my mother was very, very sick from a disease she’d die from a few years later. And during this period she often was bedridden at suppertime. So my father would take me to a Miami-area Burger King where we would sit together, just the two of us, talking over the day’s trivia over a Whopper and a milkshake, trying to keep each other’s spirits up.

That was 40 years ago (more or less; well, okay, more) and now he is gone as well. But still to this day, every time I bite into a Whopper and fill my mouth with its distinct taste, I remember those nights when a young man and his little girl kept the fears and the loneliness at bay, sitting across the table from each other in the bright lights of a Burger King.

Burger King saved my world. And it deserves some respect. As do all the high-passion people who work there. You just never know who they’re serving. And why.

Do Your Metrics Manage Meaning?

Hello from Arizona! I’m here for two weeks, the guest of the marvelous Kathie Lingle, executive director of the Alliance for Work-Life Progress. It’s a sort of cowgirl’s holiday. While I’m thoroughly enjoying the change of scenery, I am here to work. My mission: to research a speech I’m giving to the Arizona SHRM state council's annual convention in September (you are coming, aren’t you?). My topic is one of my favorites -- Sustain Your Flame! Keep Alive the Mission and Meaning of Your HR Career. And I’m here to interview HR folks who love their work in Arizona. I hope to post their interviews and photos on a specially created website.

My plan has been to fill my days with interviews and between interviews take photos of typical Arizona scenes, like sunset vistas, dusty cowboy boots, bucking broncos and saguaro cacti. But you know what? At the risk of overstating the obvious, it’s just too darn hot to get out of the car. (At 111 degrees, it just stops being a novelty and starts getting really annoying, know what I mean?)

Okay, so this is the real reason why I’m writing today: On my cell phone’s call log this morning there are four entries of the same phone number that I tried calling just seconds apart from each other. No I’m not a stalker. This is the phone number to a way schmancy new cardiac hospital where one of my dearest friends had open-heart surgery late this past week. Why did I call this hospital four times this morning to find out how she’s doing? Well, actually, that’s exactly what I’d like to know. More specifically, what I’d like to know is why did I have to call this hospital four times?

Call #1: After dutifully pressing 3 for patient update, and then dutifully waiting for my call to be taken in the order in which it was received, I heard the receiver pick up on their end and then get hung up.

Call #2: I got through to an operator who heard that I wanted a patient update (that was Press 3 after all), transferred me with no fanfare to the cardiac unit, which rapidly launched an outgoing message saying that their office is closed for the weekend.

Call #3: See call Call #1.

Call #4: I got a different operator, explained to her that I wanted to get a patient update but when I was transferred to the cardiac unit, well, finish reading Call #2.

Operator: “Their office is closed on the weekends.” I could practically see her drowsily reaching for the transfer button so I responded quickly.

Me: “I just want to get a patient update. Isn’t this the right number for that information?”

Me in my head: “Oh, I’m sorry, am I keeping you awake?”

Operator (after hearing the patient’s name, my name, and my relationship with her): “She’s in ICU right now.”

Which is, actually, great news. That means things are going as they should be. (Whoever thought that hearing that a friend is in ICU would be good news? Well, it is.)

I thanked her for her information and she seemed oddly surprised and pleased that I would take that extra second to thank her. Which surprised but didn’t please me.

I get that working at anything based on repetition and anonymity can be a real drag. Throw in the fact that you’re timed for the average amount of time you take to push the customer along (which might account for the deliberate hang-ups), and the probability of joy in the workplace sinks even lower. And I suppose that it’s no picnic talking to callers who are on the verge of freaking out, worrying about their beloved. But I’m sure that holding in our hearts and minds the meaning behind the work we do has got to be inspiring at least a little bit.

You probably know the story of the bricklayer who knows the difference between building a wall and building a cathedral (if you don’t, Google it, it’s as common as the sand dollar story). So I won’t slow this blog down by retelling it.

But I would like to invite managers to take a fresh look at how they talk about the job expectations of their direct reports. If you’re measuring performance by accuracy, by speed, by completion of the encounter with the customer, you’re missing a huge piece of the story.

Are you also talking about the meaning behind every job that you’re in charge of? Do your people know how their job soothes the human condition? (Unless we’re talking paid assassins and drug dealers, there’s an essential human meaning behind every job – at least there can be.)

Do you even know what the meaning is behind the jobs that you’re responsible for?

This isn’t rocket science or calculus. There only three reasons why people enter into a transaction with each other:

• To relieve pain
• To restore hope
• To bring beauty into the world

In my particular case, my need to transact with the call center this morning was to relieve pain – to be reassured that my dear friend what resting comfortably right where she should be. The pain was minor, to be sure, especially when compared with the anxious needs of other people calling that number this morning. I can only imagine what it must have been like to call inquiring about a loved one who had suffered a coronary, for instance, and have to call back three more times just to get basic information. That would be enough to turn me into Shirley MacLaine in Terms of Endearment.

But these people treated my call as though I was asking for data about my Social Security account on a Sunday morning.

Every job has its tedium, to be sure. But it’s never tedious for the customer – no matter whether we’re talking ICU status of a dear friend or calling our credit card company about frequent flier miles. There’s meaning in every transaction that we do.

If you have a cadre of sleepy looking customer service folks, it’s time to revisit with them the meaning behind the work they do. The ones who wake up and take personal responsibility for their customers are the ones you want to hang on to.

The ones who don’t? Well. Maybe it’s naptime.

Your Toxic Stars Could Be Killing Your Culture

When it comes to high-impact recruiting, attracting and keeping industry superstars is hard enough. But that’s nothing compared with drawing the line with them if they start turning toxic on you. It may be one of the most painful things managers will have to do. But it’s essential, especially if you have built a company culture that is committed to an engaged, collegial workplace environment.

In the ideal world rules of engagement should apply equally to everyone. But who said this is an ideal world? Some employees are crucial to your company for a variety of reasons – or at least they make you believe they are. Because of their talents, abilities, network, fame, they’re gold in your hand. They know it. You know it. And they know you know it. You worked very hard to find them, attract their attention, negotiate a killer contract and make them all nice and comfy in their new company home.

But eventually signs start cropping up that this might be a bad fit. And a stain of demoralization is spreading through your company like food coloring in a glass of water. There’s no ignoring it, but, oh my gosh, what do you do? What kind of leverage do you have with someone who thinks he’s “all that?” If you lay down the law, they could quit in a huff. Or maybe you have to fire the person? Do you really?

David Russo, former svp/hr of the famously engaged SAS Institute (and now head of his own management consulting firm, Eno River Associates), says it’s possible to keep your stars and neutralize whatever toxicity some might bring to your organization. But, in the process, as the HR leader, you could be facing your own moment of truth as the respected advisor to the organization.

Last weekend we talked about it. Here are his thoughts.

Let’s define some terms first. What is a star?

Stars offer the promise of big thinking and big delivery. They have a tremendous record of achievement; they’re dynamic with remarkable and sustainable energy. And they offer your company access to extraordinary capabilities or customers. Any combination of those characteristics makes a person a star.

So what’s a toxic star?

Toxic stars are legitimate big-time A Players who play havoc on the organization. And as a result the organization suffers in the long term. Toxic stars have all the creds, all the talent, everything you would want in the package, but because of their behaviors, their ego, or lack of sensitivity, they rip the organization apart. They can’t keep a staff, and the organization suffers because good people leave. Or the star denigrates everyone else – hitting at their self-esteem and confidence, so the entire team can’t be all it can be. Or maybe the star’s brilliant, but you have to keep him or her out of the public eye or away from clients because their behavior is so abominable. And because they can’t be trusted to interact with clients and prospects, their value to the company is reduced significantly.

What kinds of problems do these people pose to the company’s organizational interests?

The company loses the ability to retain other good people because they’re either put off by the star’s behavior, or personally attacked by that individual, or their work is discounted. When someone is a jerk, especially when that person is a star with the power and influence that goes along with being a star, his or her ability to create and sustain a hostile work environment is real. This kind of behavior creates an atmosphere where people don’t concentrate well or they lose their enthusiasm. Or they’re fearful of making mistakes and being lambasted in front of others. Or they lose faith that the project they’re working on will be seen through to completion, and they’ll be embarrassed.

And, once the word gets out on the street that this person is in your company, you’re going to have a harder time attracting other good people – especially anyone who has worked with him or her in the past.

And you could actually lose business. If you have someone on staff who is brilliant, you naturally want him or her to meet your clients or prospects. But if their behaviors are offensive in any way, it’s a guarantee that your business will suffer.

Finally, the company’s reputation is on the line. Let’s say your company wants to establish itself as a wonderful place to work and conducive to people doing great work – a high performance work environment. If the company is willing to turn a blind eye to toxic behavior, it throws the authenticity of the company’s mission and message into doubt. Companies can’t broadcast themselves as a place with high respect for people and have these exceptions who are allowed to do whatever they want because of their brilliance.

So what do you do?

You use this as an opportunity to test the legitimacy of what kind of place you want your workplace to be. Identify what kinds of positive behaviors the organization wants to model. And then identify what negative impacts this person is posing to the company. Show this person what he or she has to do to match the positive model. And let that person know that failure to align with the positive model means he or she has to go. You take the risk of losing that individual brilliance to a competitor. But you go forward knowing two things for sure: 1) your former star is spreading his/her poison in the camp of your enemy; 2) that the energy that was focused on dealing with negative behavior can now be channeled to positive outcomes.

This is a major moment of truth for the HR person in that they may not necessarily have the authorization to terminate this person.

HR leaders should never have the authority to terminate. Their role is to be the advisor to the organization. Their job is to go to the management who oversees this person and say, “This is a problem. We need to recognize it, and deal with it. If we don’t deal with it, here are the downsides….”

Historically, though, management is absolutely scared to death of losing the talents of someone who is gifted. So HR can be ignored. Management can have the attitude, “Oh he’s not so bad. He’s producing. So let’s leave him alone. We’ll just isolate him.”

But then again you also see way too many times that HR fails to step up to the plate. Sometimes they’re the first to bail on the fact that there is a problem.

What do you recommend that HR people do to enforce the standard of an engaging culture?

First of all, there has to be a standard. The company has to be willing to say, “We want to be respectful and caring of our people. We have a way that we will behave as a group and as individuals.” If they can’t say that, HR would be crazy to step up when there’s no value system being violated.

But let’s assume that there’s a pronounced, aspirational value system that’s being violated. HR has to say, “Are we serious about this? If so, this is a problem. If we’re not serious about it, let’s not kid ourselves and try to kid anybody else.”

So HR, in this particular context, is the reality meter, posing the question to management, “How real are we really going to be in this particular situation?”

Right. You say, “This is our aspiration, this is the stuff we’re putting on our posters, website, branding messages. Now, here’s the situation we’re facing with this person. Let’s test ourselves: Are we willing to stand behind what we say?” This is how HR earns its pay.

Does tolerating the presence of a toxic star reflect badly on the HR leader, even if the HR person may have no authorization to fire that person?

Sure. What’s HR’s job? To help the organization build and sustain competitive advantage through people. If you’re not helping all the people be all that they can be, then you’re not doing your job.

Your job is to hold these negative behaviors up to the light. If management doesn’t want to hear it, even though you’ve done your advising, then you come to a different question: Do you want to work for a company in a role where HR cannot influence the organization to do the right things for the right reasons? I certainly wouldn’t work for an organization where I knew that someone was a superstar, but a toxic pain in the butt…and management would do nothing about it.

I would think it would be a scary decision to take action, especially when the chances are that the star might have to be fired…or would quit when confronted.

That’s not necessarily going to happen, although it certainly can. Most people behave that way because they’ve never been challenged. Some people just like to be controversial, or they have powerful personalities. But no one ever challenges them because their deliverables are so valuable.

I’ve personally seen many cases where these people were given ‘the word’ about behavior. Those people who wanted to stay got the counseling they needed, and at the very least dialed back on those behaviors. A lot of these people just need to have the line in the sand drawn for them. When they’re shown, in no uncertain terms, that their behaviors will have definite consequences as far as their own ability to stay with the company is concerned, many of them will conclude that their work with the company is more valuable to them than hanging on to the behaviors that aren’t helping anyone.

All their managers have to do is the thing that probably no one has had the nerve to do before: Which is to point out the behaviors that don’t align with the company culture. And then tell them to knock it off.

A note from Martha: If you’d like to contact David about his insights, consulting services and speaking engagements, email me at martha@marthafinney.com. I’ll forward your emails to him. (I’m not being a control freak or anything. This way he won’t get spammed.)