Budget Cuts
Are you facing budget cuts and looking for ways to reduce expenses? If yes, you are not alone. Many higher ed. leaders are going through the same thing. They look at each line item, seeking things that can be eliminated, but in most cases, the bulk of expenses goes to salary and benefits. It seems that the obvious answers are to eliminate some part-time hourly employees, adjunct faculty, and not replace people who are quitting or retiring. The silver lining is not having to reduce salaries of permanent employees or implement furloughs.
Think like a leader, not an accountant
The flaw in this approach is that it doesn’t take into consideration what value or benefit each expenditure creates. Think about it for a moment. If you had to reduce your personal expenses, you would prioritize based on what is important to you, instead of what you are contractually obligated to pay? Imagine if you had a huge mortgage (and a contract with your lender), but no contract with a grocery store. Would you keep the house and stop eating? Of course not. You would sell the house, rent something more affordable, and have more disposable income for all the other things you need. I encourage you to do the same thing with budget cuts at work; ask yourself how you can get the most value out of the money you have to spend.
Employee productivity
Higher education is an environment where it is often difficult to let go under-performing employees. Another common issue is that managers are often over-worked, overwhelmed, and don’t find/make the time to address issues with low performers. They know who they can count on, and who is likely to make mistakes or miss deadlines and delegate tasks accordingly. As a result, under-performing employees are paid for work they are not doing, and high performers carry a heavier load. The most valuable employees often resent that there are no consequences for under-performers and no rewards for high performers. They are likely to seek employment elsewhere, while the least productive individuals will stay as long as possible to continue to collect paychecks. This may seem harsh, but I witness it constantly when I help my coaching clients deal with employee performance issues.
Consider the Return On Investment (ROI)
When you look at the costs of salary and benefits for your employees, please make sure to evaluate what you are getting for the money spent. You may think “What is the point? I can’t fire anyone! The best I can do is re-organize and even that is difficult to implement.”
I am not asking you to fire anyone but to hold everyone who works for you accountable. Make expectations clear and provide guidance on how to meet these expectations. Stop making it easy and comfortable for low performers to continue to take advantage of the system.
Obviously, I deeply care about people, and a job is much more than a transactional agreement. But you can’t forget that each paycheck comes as compensation for work performed. When someone isn’t performing, it is the supervisor’s duty to rectify the situation by helping them grow and do better.
Once employees are held to higher standards, morale improves, employee engagement goes up, top performers are more likely to stay and low performers more likely to leave.
Everyone wins. Have you ever tried to measure the cost of turnover when your best employees leave, including the cost of recruiting, the learning curve the new person will face, and how detrimental it is to everyone affected by it? Losing good employees is extremely expensive, and yet, few leaders prioritize employee satisfaction and retention.
What’s stopping you?
When I ask coaching clients why they tolerate under-performing employees, they typically say “I tried talking with them but it didn’t work”, or “They are so toxic, I don’t want to deal with them”, or “I don’t have the time to deal with it”, or “They were like that long before I started my job as their supervisor and they won’t change”. Do you catch yourself saying this too? These narratives may feel very real to you, but the situation is never hopeless.
You have three options: (1) do nothing different and suffer the consequences, (2) work with a coach to improve your supervisory skills and become confident keeping people accountable, or (3) get a coach to work directly with your employees who need to do better. Unfortunately, not everyone is coachable, and some employees will resist attempts to help them grow, but please don’t be defeated before you even try! Some employees will surprise you and step up to the challenge. Others won’t like scrutiny and accountability, so they will leave. Either way, it’s progress!
Next steps
What are you going to do? Please don’t procrastinate on this crucial matter. Decide now if you are going to make the time and find the courage to help your employees become more valuable, or if you will hire trainers/coaches/consultants to help with performance and accountability. If you think “Wait? What? This article was supposed to be about cutting costs, not spending more!” let me remind you that coaching is a low-cost solution that offers a high return on investment. I invite you to click here to schedule a time to talk with me and discuss how I can help your department thrive.
Furthermore, improving employee performance, engagement, morale, and loyalty will have positive effects on all metrics relevant to your department. They may include fewer conflicts, fewer fires to put out, more appreciation and recognition, better student satisfaction and outcomes, more accuracy, easier processes like re-accreditation, more revenue generation etc. This needs to be among your top priorities! Let’s talk soon.
About the author: Dr. Audrey Reille has empowered thousands of professionals through one-on-one coaching, group coaching, speaking engagements, and online courses. Audrey is the go-to executive coach for leaders in higher education administration. She empowers them to thrive by improving communication, confidence, executive presence, effectiveness reducing stress, optimizing strategies, improving professional relationships, and developing a strong and empowered mindset.