Years ago, Senator John Tower of Texas and 22 others were killed in a commuter plane crash due to a severely worn part in a propeller control system.
The design was flawed because one three-inch part was softer than the tube in which it was contained.
“It acted like a file and over time it wore down the teeth that controlled the propeller unit,” said acting safety board chair Susan Coughlin.
The two parts disengaged, and the lift and drag was beyond the capability of the pilots to counteract.
As the poet, Emily Dickinson, wrote, “Fail in an instant no man did; slipping is crash’s law.”
As a CIO, you are responsible for the IT team. They wear down. I am not writing about the pandemic or burnout or any dynamic of the past two years. People get worn, Covid or not.
Unless it is being countered, the breakdown will cause a disengagement. Often, the drag is beyond a CIO’s capability to pull a person out of the tailspin.
In my last article, I discussed how CIOs can calm a CEO’s frustration with IT. CIOs must also deal with frustrations experienced by the IT staff.
As with the previous subject, I facilitated a roundtable discussion of CIOs and technology leaders who are members of CIO Mastermind. The group identified five common practices that aggravate employees.
The Five Sources Of Frustration
- Lack of Development
According to the Work Institute, lack of career development is the number one reason people leave their company, and it has been for ten years running. Exit interviews continue to demonstrate that employees want more professional and personal development.
Our panel also identified employee’s frustration with job posting consistency, noting practices where positions are filled internally without notice given.
Couple the above, and the IT staff is frustrated with not understanding how growth and promotion can be attained within their organization. - Silos still standing.
Free flow of data is essential. When data is kept and segregated, frustration sets in. Nothing aggravates an IT professional more than lack of being informed and one’s work being hindered with knowledge that should be available.
Silos usually stand because they are cemented in a culture where communication is still lacking intention. It’s not that communication isn’t happening, it’s that it is not planned appropriately. - Toxic work environment
The third and fourth reasons cited by the Work Institute for people leaving their positions had to do with manager behavior and work characteristics.
Favoritism was a major complaint reported by our panel. Whether leaders coming in bring in their own team, or leaders continue to give better assignments and opportunities to the same workers, favoritism fuels toxicity.
Employees don’t expect everyone to be regarded the same way; they do expect opportunity to expand and grow, belong and become, and become regarded in their own right. Favoritism is a closed door that shuts a person out and locks them in. - Not being heard
Heard employees are engaged employees, and engaged employees are invested employees. How invested? Studies show that people would give up part of their salary in exchange for being engaged and embedded in the company.
Whereas favoritism shuts out, not listening shuts down.
One person said, “If you want me at the crash landing, you should invite me to the launch.” Leaders that expect employees to pick up the pieces fail to understand that those same employees believe the crash could have been avoided if they had been heard. - Cloudy Vision
I heard our panel voice this frustration, and I thought, “Wow, I have been there.”
Employees are frustrated when leaders give lip service to strategy and vision, but cannot themselves even answer the question, “What’s the vision?”
Lack of clarity about the vision, and lack of communication of the vision means that there is no vision. The old expression, “A mist in the pulpit is a fog in the pew” applies in the IT world.
People want to work toward a compelling vision. It fights off the drag they feel.
The CIO Response To IT Staff Frustrations
People being worn down over time, not by their output but by lack of good input, need leaders to bring two responses to the slide taking place.
- Intentionality
Any planning and coordination needs to address the question, “Who needs to know what and by when, and who will communicate it?” I’m shocked at how many meetings end without that question being raised and committed to.
Development must be customized. CIO Mastermind specializes in bringing customized development to the workplace. Intentional development is inherent in customized development.
Listening is best as an intentional exercise. Surveys, meetings, facilitated groups, employee advocates, and more are all part of fostering engagement, especially when there is feedback to the sessions and demonstration of changes because of the sessions.
I see most leaders fail not because they are not doing the right things, but because they are not doing them intentionally and consistently. - Integrity
I love leaders. I serve them every day. I’m not a big fan of leadership bashing, and I despise the easy accusation, “People leave managers not companies.” There is insight in that comment, but it is an easy out for people.
That said. There is no excuse for toxicity. There is no dodging dysfunctional culture. The leader is responsible. Where workplace toxicity exists, a leader is just getting by, lost in the work and not leading the work.
An ancient prophet said, “Where there is no vision, the people perish.” Vision is the language of leadership.
Culture and vision are integrity issues. Sure there is skill involved in creating and communicating each; and yes, intentionality plays here as well. But these are gut-check issues.
If your team is struggling with culture or vision, I am concerned that the leader is wearing down, and perhaps at a greater velocity than the ones being led.
I live for this: Helping leaders stay on top of their game so that they are bringing out the best in others, not seeing others fail to reach their potential. If you want to talk through where you are at, you can get the help you need today.
The CIO is the bridge between executive leadership and frontline leadership and staff. You deal with CIO frustration, and you deal with employee frustration. You are understanding, but you are also proactive.
Whereas there are concrete responses you can engage with the CEO per my last article, your employees need you first to check yourself. Are you leading with integrity and intention in areas of development, communication, and culture?
The tactics are not as important as the leader behind them.
