Skills and expertise are important, but if an employee isn’t likable, it will be a challenge to work with them.
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We’re now in an era where employers often tiptoe around issues due to struggles navigating interactions with those who don’t fit the cultural mold. Employees, on the other hand, seem to expect admiration unabashedly, thanks to a tight labor market that has allowed for it.
Here’s a truth that might sting: Regardless of your skill prowess, being perceived as difficult can land you on thin ice.
I can attest to this personally. Once a notoriously challenging employee, I found myself on the receiving end of termination by a manager who couldn’t stand me. Later, I discovered she was undergoing a tough personal phase, and my communication style didn’t help. Despite surpassing my quota, I refrained from causing a scene and acknowledged our lack of compatibility.
In reality, likability plays a pivotal role, and employers reserve the right not to like people. They have the authority to terminate you based on this, or they might keep you around until your utility diminishes. In an employment-at-will state, employers aren’t obliged to provide extensive reasons unless it’s tied to a protected class. While transparency is my preference, not all employers share this ethos.
Those companies that have quipped about a no a-holes policy (and believe me, there are many) often fall short of really defining what that means. Defining it through core value work will create more meaningful conversations when you are struggling with more challenging employees.
How to Have an Actually Effective “No A-hole” Policy
I have been told a ridiculous number of times by CEOs and hiring managers that their organizations have stringent “no a-hole” policies. One of those companies I worked with even had that phrase stated on their company’s career page.
The irony? Their chief revenue officer is a raging a-hole and wicked yelly, screaming at whoever was the target of his wrath. When I pointed out that fact to the CEO, who happens to be a good friend, he laughed and said, “Yes, but he’s wicked effective in his job.” To which I replied, “Well, sir, then you don’t have a ‘no a-hole policy.’”
Unless a “no a-hole policy” can be defined, measured, and screened against, it’s less a policy and more a subjective viewpoint of what likability is. And if that policy doesn’t exist, the company will probably have jerks in it, curdling the culture the business owner or CEO is trying to develop. Toxic cultures more often than not lack articulated and agreed-upon policies and, more importantly, core values. A lack of core values often comes with the perception that core values aren’t important to you and that everyone and anyone in your company is free to operate as they please. Even the a-holes.
Tying Performance to Core Values
If you opt for objective hiring, ensure your core values are tangible and measurable, reflecting throughout the organization. As I often say, your values can’t be aspirational. At BostonHCP, we underwent this exercise seven years ago, staunchly affirming that we hire and fire based on these values. This is particularly crucial for me as a high-risk employer, seeking raw talent for training, and hiring for attributes that align with long-term goals.
It may take you some time to flush out those employees who don’t embrace each core value. In Gino Wickman’s operating system, laid out in his book Traction, he recommends quarterly reviews at a very high level with your leadership team to identify with a +, –, or +/– for each person against your core values. Using your core values as data points helps you address when people may not be meeting your expectations. Core values can help articulate general issues, rather than just tracking things that were executed poorly.
Creating this cultural harmony doesn’t happen during a review or PIP, or by putting a poster on a wall with your core values. You have to make it your mantra to ensure that everyone clearly understands them and can also be rewarded for fully embracing them.
That’s the best “No A-Hole” policy you can have.
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