Last week I reviewed the consequences of operating in either a Replacement or Protective Employment Model when managing staff. This week I review the pros and cons of each model when used exclusively in isolation.
Replacement Employment Model
Summarised as treating staff as a commodity, bring in HR and/or Legal to let staff go when convenient for the business.
Pros
- Improves performance and sets an example for the team – When leveraged in moderation, employees see that complacency and poor performance are dealt with quickly and efficiently, they are likely to be more judgemental of their own performance and actions than their management and in turn outperform expectations.
- Enables businesses to adapt quickly to needs by recruiting gaps in knowledge – Periodically replacing staff with new recruits provides new insights and allow a business to not only remove a challenge but question the status quo based on experiences gleaned from other companies.
- May save morale – When staff witness someone else “getting away with it” they lose faith in the management of an organisation which can reduce morale and negatively influence staff attrition rates.
Cons
- Lose key employee knowledge – Gathering important details about a role from a disenfranchised employee is close to impossible, even if you manage to force this contractually, you will still lose the nuances and never know how much was left out until it is too late.
- May target wrong individual – Mistakes happen (especially in large teams), if you fire and replace a symptom instead of the cause, you may end up doing more damage than good as the team will see this as a failure and it may have a very strong impact on reducing morale.
- Time to recruit and train new staff – There are a few occasions when it is all hands on deck and you cannot afford to be down by a headcount. A business must consider the recruitment process in its jurisdiction otherwise it will be put at an unnecessary risk.
Protective Employment Model
Summarised as focusing on the social aspects of employment and only addressing critical situations, otherwise avoiding potential conflicts with staff.
Pros
- Sets an example to the team – Employees feel secure and safe when one of their colleagues is provided with the necessary training and encouragement to enable the team to improve their quality and performance.
- Increases staff retention – When businesses demonstrate their commitment to the team through training and mentoring, staff are unlikely to look for alternative employment thus greatly increasing the loyalty of the employees.
- Enables business to retain employee knowledge – Someone who feels appreciated and supported is likely to both share their experiences and pass critical information to new recruits.
Cons
- Possibly flogging a dead horse – Some people do not want to change their ways to suit the company or disagree with where the business is going; these members of staff are likely to infect other members of the team with distrust and cynicism.
- Could be promoting the Peter Principle or limiting the department’s full potential – if someone is kept on just because they have tenure then the likelihood of teams being constrained by someone inadvertently stifling change and promoting sarcasm is greatly increased.
- May limit the company’s ability to quickly adapt to external market conditions – Kept in isolation, businesses tend to get comfortable with the modus operandi and stop adapting to their environment placing that company at a competitive disadvantage as they run the risk of distancing themselves from their customers’ expectations.
…Next week part 3 of 3, I review the Pros and Cons of the Balanced Employment Model.
These are my thoughts, do you agree? I, as well as many of the other readers, would be interested to read your opinion.
Through Willard Enterprises, I specialise in helping businesses achieve successful lasting change through IT transformation, process improvement, smart sourcing and providing IT transparency such as assisting you in completing department health checks. As always, if there is something I can do to help your business or someone you know deliver their next challenge, please look at my website and contact me for more information.