Co-worker needs to stop passing responsibility

Q: A supervisor who reports to me tries to avoid responsibility for unpopular decisions. For example, when employees had to work on Saturday last week, “Jeff” told his group that they must do it “because my boss says so.” While I don’t mind being the bad guy, blaming me makes Jeff look like a puppet instead of a leader.

I have explained to Jeff that if he wants a career in management, he will have to become more comfortable using his authority. However, he seems to find this difficult. Do you have any suggestions?

A: The first question is whether Jeff understands the reasoning behind your instructions. After all, if you want him to own a decision, he must be able to explain why it was made.

Thinking back on conversations with Jeff, ask yourself whether you have provided explanations or simply issued orders. There’s a big difference between “tell employees they have to work on Saturday” and “we need everyone to pitch in on Saturday because we must fill a large order.”

Without logical answers, “because my boss said so” becomes the only reasonable response to employee questions. But if the rationale has been discussed, and Jeff continues to pass the buck, then you have some serious coaching to do.

For example: “Jeff, as a supervisor, you must try to help employees understand the reasoning behind decisions instead of blaming management for them. Next week, for instance, some people will have to work overtime to get a shipment out. Let’s talk about the best way to explain this.”

Get Jeff to describe how he would deliver that information and then continue to rehearse until he gets it right. After repeating this process he should be able to manage on his own.