Let’s assume that everyone in Group A is trying to do their best. For the most part, I believe that to be true.
So far, so good.
Now, let’s assume that those folks in Group A want to be accurate and proper and minimize personal risk in setting salaries, benefits, staffing levels, staffing schedules, and so on … so they do some online research or ask some other people in Group B and Group C and the rest of the alphabet what they’re doing so they can compare, you know, just to be “safe” … or maybe even copy them.
But, wait! What if all those people in Groups B and C and the rest of the alphabet don’t have their acts together?
What if they actually suck?
And what if all those people in Groups B and C and the rest of the alphabet also don’t have enough funding or staffing?
What if all those people in Groups B and C and the rest of the alphabet lack community support and their employees are unhappy with workplace conditions?
What if those other people in Groups B and C and the rest of the alphabet have toxic cultures or lack support from their governing body and community?
What if those people in Groups B and C and the rest of the alphabet have serious recruiting and retention problems?
And what if people in Groups B and C and the rest of the alphabet have city councils, mayors, county commissions, or legislatures that care more about numberstatzandfiggers than they do about the lives of employees and employee families, who are simultaneously addicted to whining about too-much-service-not-enough-service, whose only ideological consistency is grounded in hypocrisies and bumper-sticker philosophies, who ran for office as a single-issue candidate, and who are DNA-level committed to pat themselves on the back for stepping over dollars to pick up pennies?
What if Groups B and C and the rest of the alphabet also copy one another for the same reasons? In such a model there are no distinct, brilliant colors of inspirational leadership- no shining beacon at the top of a difficult-to-take hill – no emotional excitement about a leadership vision … there is only the dumbed-down gray typical of circular firing squads shooting at one another with worn-out, failed ideas.
That brings me to my next question:
“What the hell is wrong with the people in Group A that they would compare themselves to others who may or may not have their act together?”
I wonder why “price fixing” is against the law – but public safety agencies, corporations and not-for-profits can get together – even vicariously – to compare, that is, tacitly agree upon – salaries, benefits, staffing ratios and useless statistics, a system where no one wants to be at the top and no one wants to be at the bottom, with the predictable result of perpetuating circular symptoms, dumbing down the entire system and prospectively losing great employees? What happened to letting the market (taxpayers, customers) – the people to whom the services are provided – decide?
I believe at the core is an abysmal lack of true leadership.
I hear the symptoms nearly every day:
- “You’re asking us to take on a different way of doing things. Can you give us a list of others who have tried this and how they did it?”
- “Trooper-Deputy-Officer Pat, your performance is in the middle of the bell-shaped curve … “
- “We want our salaries and benefits to be comparable with other organizations …”
- “Well, what are other companies doing?”
Perhaps you recall my observation: Too many things in America don’t get done because too many people who should know better are either lazy, unimaginative, fearful or selfish … or some combination of those four things.
The logic behind “comparables” – that is, comparing what you need to do with what other people are doing or saying or wearing or paying is, I dunno, so middle school … that is, non-adult preoccupation with peer acceptance.
A few thoughts on how to lead through it:
- Stop worrying about “the competition.” Such thinking will cause you and your organization to be reactionary. BE the competition.
- No organization is the same as your organization. Stop pretending that comparables are rational or even possible. Resist attempts to equate the size of organizations with the cultures within those same organizations. Celebrate the unique nature of your internal culture, the compassion of your team members, the constituent-based results your organization produces, the unfailing support of your constituents and customers.
- Resist “comparables.” The Romans used a phrase, Panem et circenses … meaning, “bread and circuses” – the idea being that many people can be appeased by games and snacks rather than pursuing greatness. I guarantee you that for any proposal you make about salaries, benefits, staffing levels or other critical issues, a short-term thinker among your constituents or in elected office will likely ask, “How does what you’re proposing compare to the jurisdiction down the street?” (Read that: “What about them games and snacks?) Arghhh! You must be prepared to lay out a comprehensive, holistic, “apples-to-apples” view of those other agencies to ward off attempts at the lazy shell games of “comparables.” To wit: “We don’t want to lose good people; they’re losing good people. We don’t want to be held hostage by outside forces; they’re held hostage by outside forces. We don’t want our employees to get hurt on the job; they have people getting hurt on the job. We want high-quality services; they don’t have high-quality services. We want to hire and retain qualified people; they have lowered their standards so much that they can’t hire or retain qualified people. We want options – strategic advantage; they have neither. We don’t want to be successfully sued; they’re being successfully sued. We don’t want a toxic culture; they have a toxic culture …” and so on.
- Lead Like You Mean It. True leaders shouldn’t care what salaries and benefits look like in some other jurisdiction, company, or not-for-profit agency. All a true leader wants to know is, “What level of service are our customers willing to pay for?” That means you’ll have to decide with the support of those who pay the bills (taxpayers, donors, customers), sell it, and stand by it. Lead.
- Educate Your Customers. Periodically review a Citizen-Based Service Line Policy with your Citizen Advisory Committee, customer groups, and respective governing bodies. Educate the community about the value your organization adds to their lives – where your team improves the quality of life, creates conveniences for others, and so on. Spend less time talking about quantity of services and …
- Focus On Quality. So what if you’re the highest-paying organization in the region – or the world, for that matter? That is neither something to be ashamed of nor something to gloat about. The reality is that people tend to be willing to pay more for that which they perceive as having “quality” than for mere “quantity.” (Even rice must be nutritious and taste good, regardless of the number of grains consumed.) By themselves, numberstatzandfiggers be damned … Be a quality organization.
- Don’t Get Cocky About Money While Neglecting Your Culture. Remember, all things being considered, you cannot pay people enough money to buy off their alienation from a toxic work culture. The employees in one of my past clients were, at the time, the highest-paid such employees in the World … yes, the World; yet, that organization was, without doubt, the most dysfunctional, toxic culture I have witnessed in forty years of business. Culture and money; money and culture; you must always balance them. I have addressed this elsewhere and outlined a few Pro Tips in my books.
- “Employees Per Thousand Population” is an antiquated, archaic, lazy algorithm for staffing any organization. A rational staffing algorithm is based on an understanding of human-sized chunks of customer/client-based work. See my article here: “A Flawed Staffing Algorithm Is At The Core Of Burnout And Safety Violations.”
- Resist The Short-Sighted Bell-Shaped Curve Addicts. “Comparables” in anything, including salaries, benefits, staffing levels, or performance evaluations, are insulting to everyone involved, and the proponents of such short-sightedness should be, well, educated and, if that fails, they should be ashamed. True leaders do not care what one employee’s performance is compared to other co-workers. (Does your HR department really think telling a child, “Be like – or don’t be like – your brother,” is an effective parenting strategy?) Regardless of what others are doing … all the true leader wants to know is, “Did you do what you told me you would do at the beginning of this rating period?”
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Author’s Note: The content provided in this article is designed exclusively for educational and informational purposes, reflecting opinions shaped by decades of leadership training and organizational consulting experience. It should never be interpreted as formal professional advice. By reading or engaging with this material, you acknowledge that no professional-client relationship is established and that these insights do not substitute for tailored guidance from a qualified professional familiar with your specific circumstances. Consequently, readers are strongly advised to seek independent counsel from licensed legal, financial, medical, or other appropriate advisors before implementing any strategies or making decisions based on these perspectives. Ultimately, you assume full personal responsibility for any actions you choose to take or omit as a result of reading this material, releasing the author and publisher from any liability for outcomes arising from your reliance on the text.
