When the day is sunny, cloudless, warm and bright, I am at my best.  In fact, most people I know prefer the light and enjoy being outdoors when the sun is shining bright. Even your indoor time is better because you know the outdoors are so beautiful.  It makes you want to open the windows and let that good stuff inside.

I have found the same holds true in the workplace.  It is good to keep things well lighted.   Bad behavior tends to occur during the cover of darkness.  Not only is it a good idea to light your actual office or work area, it is also a best people practice to light up your company culture. The company culture needs a good dose of light to keep things headed in the right direction because negative and toxic actions most likely happen in darkness.  In the famous Stanford Prison Experiment conducted by Dr. Philip Zimbardo, the worst behavior of the prison guards occurred during the nighttime when fewer people were around to watch them beat and torment their prisoners.

Toxic managers, office jerks and bullies only survive because they are allowed to spread their toxic venom under the cover of darkness. This darkness comes in the form of leaders looking the other way, human resource professionals siding with inhumane treatment of employees, posting code of conduct policies that are not followed by leadership, Alpha Males who are allowed to create mobs to terrorize individual targets in the organization, coworkers who don’t want to get involved, CEO’s who prefer to keep high-performing jerks regardless of the body count, or the mere fact not one leader is brave enough to step forward and call out the toxic individual’s behavior.  Firing an employee should not be an easy or enjoyable process but sometimes it is needed to save the organization.

Is there sufficient light in your organization? Do you have the official policies but subversive work is conducted behind the scenes in the dark of night?  Is there open communication up and down the organization? Start a revolution of light. Walk into the light and bring some people with you.

Image: iStockPhoto

IN THE NEWS: See Kevin Kennemer, The People Group, appear in this news story covered by Tulsa’s NewsOn6 about a business owner who avoided layoffs.

When meeting with CEO’s, business owners and leaders, it is in their company’s best interest to understand the advantages of adopting, modeling and promoting a Great Workplace Initiative.  The company wins. The employees win.  Our society wins. Great Workplaces are also better able to avoid the scourge of U.S. corporations – the dreaded layoff.

When times get tough, Great Workplaces are better prepared for difficult business conditions.  According to a recent ground-breaking GreatPlaceJobs.com study, Great Workplaces perform layoffs at half the rate of their average-performing counterparts.  This means job applicants should be searching for companies recognized as Great Workplaces. Below are some observations about layoffs:

• Layoffs should be the last resort, not a knee-jerk reaction to please shareholders.
• A CEO who knows and cares for employees will first attempt cost-cutting measures and involve the entire workforce.
• The goal of drastic payroll reduction is to quickly raise the stock price.*
• Downsizing raises the perceived value of the firm but lowers the actual value.*
• A leader who has to look employees in the eyes has motivation to pursue alternatives to layoffs.
• Companies who avoid layoffs are better prepared to meet customer demand when the economy turns around.

Before you call HR and ask them to cut 10% of your workforce, consider these other cost-cutting strategies adapted from our friends at the Great Place to Work Institute:**

• Involve people to develop strategies. This provides people a sense of control in a difficult situation.  Losing a sense of control in difficult situations can send employees into a tail spin and all their energies will be spent ruminating about the dangers and unknowns ahead rather than the business at hand.
• Share information. Leaders should not run and hide in the board room.  If the leaders are not out front communicating, employees will create answers to their own questions and this information will spread like wildfire via the company grapevine.  And certainly do not force the employees to read news about their very own company in the media.  Leaders are better off sharing information and often.
• Show up, be available and say thank you. Get out of the office and walk around the workplace and visit employees. Listening is a great skill, especially during tough times.  Answer the questions you have answers for and obtain answers for those you don’t.  Be sure to say “thank you” to your employees.
• Start cost cutting with yourself. Leaders should lead by example and that means cutting their own salaries and benefits if that’s what is needed.  Don’t ask employees to do something you are unwilling to do yourself.  Suspend bonus payments for employees and executives.  This will send the message this is a team effort.

What are other alternatives to layoffs?

• Voluntary retirements.
• Allow normal attrition to slim down workforce.
• Reduction in hours for non-exempt employees and pay reductions for exempt employees.
• Offer unpaid leave. There could be employees who would like some time-off to handle some personal matters, further their education, etc.
• Offer reduced-salary sabbaticals with benefits.
• Impose a hiring freeze.
• Quickly work with under-performing employees. If they do not improve, respectfully part ways. Don’t wait until the economy turns south and disguise the separation as a layoff due to economic reasons because survival anxiety symptoms may surface in the remaining employees.
• Cancel business travel, especially with the current accessibility of video conferencing.
• Suspend 401(k) contributions.  But if you do this, make sure the executive retirement plan contributions are suspended too.
• Finally, rid your company of bullies and jerks.  Bullies impair productivity and raise health care costs and paid time off requests.

Great Workplaces outperform their competition, attract and retain the best talent, enjoy greater cooperation among team members, experience high levels of customer satisfaction and employee innovation, plus a number of other wonderful benefits.  It is never too late to start your Great Workplace Initiative.

* Excerpt from Corporate Violence by Dr. Howard Stein citing Jonathan Lurie 1998.  My thanks to Dr. Howard Stein for his friendship and brilliant mind and writing.

** Adapted from Maintaining Trust in Difficult Times” by Amy Lyman, Co-Founder & Director Corporate Research, Great Place to Work Institute.

A small business owner told me the other day he recently met with his staff and jointly worked out an arrangement where employees voluntarily reduced their hours to help account for the recent slow down in business.  Rather than layoff a few employees, it was decided that everyone would share in the pain and work together to solve the company’s financial dilemma.  Rather than sending talent to the exits, this company is poised to quickly respond in full force when the recession lifts. Teamwork was their response to bad news rather than cutting coworkers.

Why is this CEO motivated to approach his company’s economic issues in this manner?  I suspect it is because he is closer to his people. He sincerely cares for them as individuals.  This small business owner has to look employees in the eyes most every day so he is motivated to work out a solution rather than simply pull out a quick fix tool and layoff employees.

Employees of large corporations are not so lucky.  Their CEO’s and leadership teams are typically far removed from the workforce.  A Fortune 500 CEO can simply call their human resource division and command, “layoff five percent of the workforce.”  Workforce reduction plans can be developed and implemented without senior management getting their hands dirty.   Employees are given the tragic news and sent home with little or no interaction from leadership.

This impersonal approach is why you will notice the initial response to economic bad news from medium to large companies is to layoff workers.  The same companies who often state, “our employees are our most important asset” are the same companies kicking people to the curb at the first sign of bad economic news.  To appease shareholders and initiate positive action in the eyes of Wall Street, a layoff is considered the expected and financially responsible quick fix.

The really bad news is that employee layoffs rarely result in long-term cost savings. The data does not support this knee-jerk reaction to reducing expenses.

It is not hard to find bad news. Evidently bad news sells advertising and all the network news programs have signed up for a double portion of negative news coverage. This has created a steady diet of fear and frustration for business leaders who typically stay electronically plugged in most of the day.

From a positive people practices perspective can we logically think through this layoff strategy? Are there not other alternatives to handing out pink slips?  The Wharton School of Business has made these following suggested alternatives to layoffs:

• Voluntary retirement and attrition
• Company-wide salary reductions
• Reduced-salary sabbaticals with benefits
• Reduction of working hours
• Hiring freezes
• Cancellation of company business travel
• Suspension of the 401(k) matching contribution
• Develop and implement employee performance standards

When faced with challenges, leaders and employees will rise to the occasion and deliver viable solutions if an atmosphere of teamwork is propagated rather than an environment where everyone must fend for themselves. Before handing out pink slips, involve the team to determine preventive and innovative alternatives to the dreaded layoff.

One time I received a phone call from a recruiter asking me to consider the top HR position of a local company. The recruiter stated the top leader of the company was essentially the devil incarnate, yet they needed the HR executive to create a great workplace.  In other words, the CEO was evil but they wanted a work environment that was employee-friendly.

The recruiter became upset with me when I told her the scenario would never work.  Not with me.  Not with anyone. Not even a miracle worker could turn the culture around as long as the current CEO was in power.

Corporate culture flows down from the top.  It flows down from the CEO, not the HR department.

Have you been challenged with the task of creating a positive corporate culture?  Unless you are the CEO, it is doubtful you will have much luck changing the culture from negative to positive, bad to good, mildly unfriendly to moderately friendly or from downright hell to heaven.

The CEO must be the champion of the company’s culture.  The personality of the organization tends to follow the traits of a strong CEO.  Without his or her strong support, commitment and role modeling in action, it will likely be an uphill battle to rid the company of bad organizational habits supported by the leadership team.

Leadership author and speaker John Maxwell has very wisely stated, “everything rises and falls on leadership.” This certainly holds true for company culture.

If you want to create a high-performance work culture that attracts the best and brightest talent, you must first successfully convince your CEO to lead your corporate culture team.  And it is important to realize a Great Workplace Initiative is not a project with a definite beginning and end.  This will be a never-ending process of molding your company’s personality.  Just like individuals should always be in a continual state of learning and changing, the organizational unit should be changing as well.

When clients call and want us to help them mold their company culture, my response is, “take me to your leader.”

Meet Mr. Good and Mr. Evil. This was the strangest leadership style I had ever encountered. It was typical to leave the CEO’s office feeling great about the company, pumped up, energized and feeling good about work and life. Meetings with the CEO’s powerful second in command, on the other hand, left you feeling drained, deflated, confused and worried if you would even have a job the next week.

Psychopathic Polarized Leadership Sinks the Ship

The CEO was cordial, respectful and seemed to have a positive outlook on life.  His second in command was an abrasive bully who was arrogant, foul mouthed and narcissistic. This psychopathic polarized leadership style would later prove devastating to this company.  Communication within the organization was dysfunctional at best.  Executives did not know where the company was going and were hesitant to pursue cold, hard facts in a fear-based buffer that surrounded the CEO thanks to leader number two.

Good Cop-Bad Cop?

The senior management’s leadership style was confusing and left many company leaders and professionals bewildered at times. The top two management duo’s modus operandi was similar to good cop-bad cop.  Except this was good leader-evil leader.  The players were not cops but irresponsible business leaders. The victims were not crime suspects but well-respected business leaders and professionals.

Public Speeches about Great Workplaces

As the head of human resources, I would occasionally be asked to speak to groups. I was very proud of our company and the progress we had made in creating a great place to work. This was an absolute miracle considering the psychopathic leadership model at the top. Not only had we grown from obscurity to number five on the Forbes list of largest privately held companies, we also were well known throughout the city and the region as an employer of choice.

When job openings were advertised on our website, within minutes hundreds of people would be applying.  In fact, we were aware of job applicants working at other respected companies waiting for positions to come open so they could apply for a chance to work in a great workplace. This was a talent recruiting position many leaders only dream about.  We had become a magnet for the best and brightest people.

Unhealthy at the Top

When speaking to groups, it was only natural to tell audiences my philosophy of creating an employee-friendly corporate culture where people should be treated with trust and respect. The importance of a company’s internal personality cannot be overstated.  However, I knew our company’s personality at the top was sick and twisted.  Overall, ninety-nine percent of the company was comprised of very good, respectful people who cared about the organization and its people.  The company was unhealthy at the top.

Two Ten Thousand Pound Gorillas

It has been said, “You are only as strong as your weakest link.” Unfortunately for us, our weakest link was two ruthless, clever, greedy scheming executives at the top. In other words, underneath our great workplace story was two ten thousand pound gorillas.  Mr.  Good and Mr. Evil.  I dared not talk publicly about their confusing and exasperating leadership styles.

As time went on this became an enormous problem. It created fear, dread, aggravation and knots inside many peoples’ stomachs.  At first I simply thought we had an out of control, certified asshole executive along with a beloved CEO who avoided conflict and would not rise to the occasion and stop the internal psychological terrorism on employees and fellow leaders.  Later I realized they were working together to create a polarized management system.

Moral of this Story

Learn from this sad but true story. This is an extreme example. However, it is important because you need to know who is running or ruining your company. Is Mr. Good really working for the best interests of the company?  Is Mr. Evil really worth keeping around?  People practice professionals need to speak freely about what ills the company. Many executives do not want to hear about problems.  That is why it has been said most human resource executives need a “go to hell fund.”

Live your life with utmost integrity and be willing to tell the truth, even if the truth will likely cost you your job.  In the long run an integrity-based journey will make sense and bring worthwhile rewards.

If you were faced with an evil, illegal, unethical or highly questionable business practice sanctioned by your leaders, would you have the character to stand up and declare your disapproval, even if it meant losing your job?  Would you walk away from a steady paycheck if your company’s leaders were unwilling to correct their wayward practices? When the eyes of evil are upon you the act of conscientious separation can be a very, very difficult moment in your life.

This is our hope: when faced with evil, we will stand up for what is right, good and honorable.

Group Behavioral Norms

The problem is that group behavior tends to create norms and patterns of behavior that tend to force people to conform in order to feel part of the team. That is why belonging to the right company culture is absolutely necessary for the mental, physical and spiritual well-being of employees over the long term. The people in power at your company – president, CEO, COO, CFO, CIO, CHRO, board of directors, etc. – have enormous control over the company’s cultural climate and group behavior.  Company culture flows down from the top.  It does not bubble up from the mail room or permeate the organization from human resources.  Company culture is a reflection of the leader’s personality.

Follow the Leader

Employees tend to follow their leader. I once observed the grotesque transformation of an administrative assistant. She changed from a rather nice person to an extremely difficult, overbearing, hateful and simply rude dominatrix after working a few years for her boss who exhibited the same traits.  She found her incentive plan paid better when she exhibited her boss’s behaviors.  She was mirroring and conforming to her supervisor’s behavioral norms. The leader’s evil ways rubbed off on her.  Her former nice self was not compensated as well so she shoved that character into the closet and locked the door.

The executive’s control of incentive payments changed her in a very disturbing and negative way. Sometimes soccer moms are not immune from morphing into whatever behavior pays the most money so the kids can have the latest brands, gadgets, technology and private education.

Stanford Prison Experiment

Consider the famous 1971 Stanford Prison Experiment. College students volunteered to play the role of either prisoner or prison guard.  The result: only after six days the planned two-week experiment had to be abruptly halted as the college students playing prison guards morphed into evil dictators who levied psychological abuse on their fellow students playing the role of prison inmate.

Many of the prisoners were found laying on the floor in fetal positions experiencing mental breakdowns as a result of the significant levels of psychological mistreatment.  Can you imagine what would have happened if the experiment continued for two weeks?

According to psychology professor and leader of the now famous experiment, Dr. Philip Zimbardo, said, “the planned two-week study was terminated after only six days because it was out of control. Good boys chosen for their normalcy were having emotional breakdowns as powerless prisoners,” Zimbardo stated. “Other young men chosen for their mental health and positive values eased into the character of sadistic guards inflicting suffering on their fellow students without moral compunction, said Zimbardo.

And those “good guards” who did not personally debase the prisoners failed to confront the worst of their comrades, allowing evil to ripen without challenge,” stated Dr. Zimbardo.

Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely

Professor Zimbardo underestimated the corruptive power of unbridled authority. Lord Acton once said, “Power tends to corrupt; absolute power corrupts absolutely.”  Professor Zimbardo stated, “My guards repeatedly stripped their prisoners naked, hooded them, chained them, denied them food or bedding privileges, put them into solitary confinement, and made them clean toilet bowls with their bare hands.”

There are leaders who will not allow others to question their authority. They believe they can treat employees how they want – good and bad – without repercussions because they sign their paychecks.

Translation to Building Great Workplaces

You may be thinking the Stanford Prison Experiment is in no way related to building a Great Workplace. Ridding the organization of tyrants, jerks, bullies and people with evil intent is merely a good start.  Most importantly, Great Workplaces are dependent on leaders with high levels of integrity, trust and respect, especially when times get tough.

We must also be careful how much absolute power we give our leaders.  Lord Acton observed that a person’s sense of morality lessens as his or her power increases. I have seen this scenario come to fruition as business associates became the beneficiaries of enormous financial success.  Sadly, they did not know how to manage the pressures of wealth, power and authority.  Unbridled power can destroy the person and bring the company down along with the toxic executive.

Employ a Truth Telling Advisor

Top executives need someone who can speak to them without fear of being fired. This senior adviser should be able to speak freely with the CEO, even regarding issues that are unpopular or taboo.  CEO’s who are smart will hire a senior advisor who is paid to provide open, honest feedback – even if it hurts. Decisions made by CEO’s in isolation in their executive suite have the potential to cause enormous employee morale issues and severely damage the company’s public image.

Reflective Sunglasses

As the prison guards began to fully assume their role as sadistic rulers, they began to wear reflective sunglasses 24/7. The inability to peer into the eyes of your tormentor was a way for fellow students to distance themselves from their prisoners whom they were severely mistreating.

In the event your company’s leadership begins to distance themselves from employees and peers, be prepared for upcoming decisions that could negatively impact the entire workforce.  Looking straight into the eyes of your leader can be very revealing.  The eyes can be a window into their heart.  Are your leaders in hiding?  Are they creating distance between themselves and employees? The act of creating distance may be an advance warning of impending trouble.

How Good Leaders Turn Evil

Most people do not determine in their hearts to turn evil.  It is a process of compromise over the course of time.  They surround themselves with people who are more interested in the benefits of group acceptance and membership rather than pointing out problems and issues with their leader’s decisions and actions.  The “how” things get done become unimportant just as long as the work gets done. Before you know it, the leader has succumbed to evil.

CEO’s find the truth hard to handle at times.  Especially regarding employee relations issues, and their resulting effects on morale, quality and productivity.  For example, the CEO may have a hard time believing one of their top performers is a certifiable asshole who is damaging the company’s morale and causing a deterioration of trust in leadership.

The good news is there is a five step program for ridding your company of corporate assholes who have burrowed themselves inside your organization.

Step #1 – Admit assholes are bad for business. Recognize that assholes are bad for the organization. Yes, take that truth syrum and walk over from the dark side to the light.  Believe it or not, there are some CEO’s who think a few assholes scattered throughout the organization actually increase productivity. If this is the case, why not give those assholes some chains and whips to help their cause and instill greater fear.  If fear really works, why not increase the fear for greater effect? Nonsense!  You know it and I know it; assholes must be terminated.

Step #2 – Understand assholes are expert kiss-ups. Understand that assholes are masters at managing up, kissing up and brownnosing, all while causing terror down the corporate ladder.  While you are feeling good about your asshole, he is instilling fear in your organization. As the CEO, the asshole who is your direct report typically makes you feel good when you are around them.  It feels good to have your back end massaged by these clever manipulators.  They are experts at massaging your backside in order to protect theirs.

Step #3 – Adopt, model and promote your company’s code of conduct. I recommend your company also adopt an Anti-Bullying and No-Jerk policy.  Why?  The Workplace Bullying Institute and Zogby research indicate that 37% of American workers have been bullied at work.  That is almost 4 out of 10 employees.  Bullying is four times more prevalent than illegal harassment, yet most companies overlook it.  Because this has become such a prevalent workplace problem, a number of respectable companies have adoped No Jerk Hiring Policies:

“No Jerk Policy” Hall of Fame Companies

Barclays Capital | SPM Communications | Lloyd Gosselink Attorneys at Law

IDEO | Sterling Foundation Management | Gold’s Gym | van Aartrijk Group

Robert W. Baird | The Wine Buyer | Mozilla | Washington Mutual | SuccessFactors

Arup | Goldcorp | Hamilton Canada

Step #4 – Require thorough investigations and no cover-ups. Make sure human resources completely investigates claims of workplace bullying by corporate assholes.  The typical response will be for HR to conspire with or feel pressure from the asshole manager and eventually assist in the firing of the targeted employee or employees.  This allows the evidence to be terminated and walk out the front door.  In other words, assholes like to eliminate their dirty laundry.  Require HR to document the behavior, obtain witness accounts and submit a full written report to the CEO office.  Identify patterns of behavior and provide support to human resources when they recommend bullies and assholes undergo counseling.  Finally, terminate jerks if they don’t straighten up, regardless of their position in the company.

Step #5 – Communicate to stakeholders your company is a Jerk Free Zone. Communicate to employees, applicants and stakeholders your company is a Jerk Free Zone.  Don’t even permit customers to treat your employees terribly.  If you want to create a high-performance team environment, protect your employees.  Sure, develop lofty goals for your team members and create high performance expectations.  Driving out fear in the workplace will almost ensure your organization will be successful. Do this and success will follow you wherever you go.