Developing recruitment partnerships

By NEHRA, 9/19/2003

In organizations, there are specific management issues that surface frequently. The one that is the most predictable, and often carries the greatest emotional charge, is conflict between political performers and results performers. When these two styles collide, the results can be devastating. Not only can conflict between "those who politic" and "those who push results" keep their work groups from optimizing; it can hold an entire organization back. Quality suffers. Performance suffers. Customers suffer. Competitiveness suffers. It is incumbent on leadership to manage these style issues because these people are often among the organization's most talented, skilled, creative and productive managers and professionals.

The contenders

Political performers focus the vast majority of their energies on creating and maintaining politically appropriate relationships while generating marginal performance results. Results performers focus almost entirely on producing outstanding results to a near total exclusion of creating business interpersonal relationships.

The political performer

Political performers centralize their efforts around building the "right" relationships. Tending to focus almost entirely on political orientations, they compromise the quantity and quality of their business outcomes. Political performers create confusion between their results and their politics. Their political network, developed by making friends in the right places, adds to the confusion about actual performance and simultaneously creates a cushion of connections, which lessens the demand for results and discourages criticism.

The results performer

With efforts focused almost exclusively on producing and exceeding measurable outcomes, results performers often compromise relationships and organizational processes. Tending to believe that all that matters are outcomes, results performers will often roll over whatever gets in their way of delivering outcomes -- whether it's people, politics or processes. Results performers are often seen as abrasive managers or professionals who do whatever it takes to achieve outcomes, regardless of the people affected or lost due to their management methods and interpersonal style.

A pattern of conflict

While any number of incidents can catalyze conflict in the working relationships between political performers and results performers, a pattern often emerges.

It begins when results performers experience what they perceive to be inequities of the political system. Where do they see the inequity? Due to relationships in important places and their ability to call attention to their successes, political performers are often valued more greatly by the organization than results performers. Recognizing this, the results performers begin to feel that politicking, rather than results, is rewarded.

The results performers are unable to integrate this political dynamic into their value system. They continue to complete near impossible projects, but the rewards, raises, promotions and perks are not -- in their mind -- commensurate with the results produced. Their results-only behavior creates a career-limiting glass ceiling. They continue to receive challenging assignments, but because of their style, their successful achievement of the outcomes does not advance their careers.

Meanwhile, political performers, using their strategy of relationship nurturing plus occasional very good performance, receive handsome rewards - raises, promotions and perks. Every real or imagined acknowledgment of the political performer by the organization fuels the frustration of the results performer. Similarly, political performers discount outcomes produced by results performers because of the human capital costs, such as increased turnover and low satisfaction rates (the political performer experiences these too).

The results vs. politics conflict can, and often does, build into a blazing inferno, fueling discontent. Virtually everyone in the related work groups, and occasionally the entire organization, is affected by the conflict. Regardless of the superior results produced by the results performer and the marginal results of the political performer, the net effect on organizational productivity and attitude is negative. The stress and obstacles created by the conflict have the potential to impede performance and drive away high-potential employees.

The case for executive coaching

No organization can create and maintain market leadership with the results vs. politics conflict unmanaged. But businesses can manage these catastrophic melting points by implementing proactive coaching and development when exaggerated political or results-focused traits are identified. By providing executive coaching to both categories of performers each gains insight into their behaviors and related workplace dynamics. As the valued professionals develop through the coaching process, organizations improve performance, counteract results vs. politics conflict, improve leadership and avoid future succession problems.

Coaching results performers

Results performers have a predisposition to seeing things in stark binary contrast: black or white; right or wrong; not being political is good, being political is bad. It is common to hear results performers say, "Politics is an evil game I refuse to play."

Through executive coaching, the individual learns he/she cannot choose whether "to play" or "not to play." In the arena of business politics you either play or you get played - you are never out of the game. In all organizations a political structure of some kind exists. Instead, the question is, "Do we play with integrity?" With the proper guidance, results performers will begin to see that there is a continuum of organizational politics. On one end, negative politics is the advanced practice of manipulation -- using relationships to gain personal advantage. On the other end, political integrity is building relationships over time, paving the way to achievement through good will and maximizing available resources to get things done right.

A healthy understanding of the nature of organizational politics is crucial in enabling a results performer to develop a more open communication style. This can eliminate one of the main behaviors that escalates a results vs. politics conflict: consistently acting and producing without communicating.

In addition, executive coaching for results performers should focus on cultivating integrity-based leadership behaviors within the everyday processes of managing people and producing business results. For example:

• Reporting - train results performers to transform reporting habits from negative, retrospective and rare occurrences to regular team discussions of opportunity, timelines, resources and progress. The purpose of this kind of reporting is positive politics -- to inform, to celebrate results achieved and to build relationships.
   
• Reinforcement - coach results performers to give timely, positive feedback on effective performance. Reinforcement shifts from vague details about expectations and negative feedback on performance to clear consistent communication about outcomes.
   
• Recreation - teach results performers that recreation and celebration are important parts of progress and completion. When celebrating small successes, marking milestones and acknowledging work well done, results performers are less likely to over-commit their workgroups. As a consequence, there is regeneration of energy, productivity, effectiveness, enthusiasm and innovation.
   
• When consistent, outstanding results are combined with strong relationship-building activities (reporting, reinforcement and recreation), results performers become better business leaders who have both the performance and political capabilities needed to contribute positively to the organization.
   

Coaching political performers

Just as the results performer must be introduced to political integrity, political performers need to understand the value of disciplined, deliverables-driven processes-the quantifiable, time-based, measurable results side of leadership.

Most political performers initially develop good work habits, believing that relationships and results are the key to career success. Over time, the emphasis shifts toward relationships and politics. Oftentimes, political performers know this intuitively, yet they continue even when more efforts must be expended to continue politicking than it would take to produce results. The behavior has simply become a deep-rooted habit.

One of the key coaching interventions with political performers is to teach or reintroduce project management skills. The objective is to focus political performers on specific, measurable outcomes: the cost/benefits of efforts, timelines, milestones and reporting agreements. In addition, political performers must be taught to negotiate new, integrity-based relationships with their manager, peers and direct reports through their reporting, reinforcement and recreation practices.

Coach early, coach well

In every organization, there will be both political performers and results performers. The key to incorporating their talents and transforming negative tendencies is proactive coaching and development. With the right approach to coaching -- offering thoughtful, substantiated and actionable insight on how to improve workplace performance and interaction -- performers embrace the opportunity to increase their effectiveness as well as their opportunities for growth, advancement and reward.

Virginia M. Lord is Northeast regional managing director of Spherion Human Capital Consulting and is a NEHRA member. She can be reached at 781-565-0980 or virginialord@spherion.com.