dangletech

When it comes to management lessons, one of my favorite movies to quote is “Jerry Maguire”. Even if you haven’t seen the movie, you have probably heard its famous mantra “Show me the money!”

As a manager sometimes I feel like sports agent Jerry Maguire. My staff thinking that I am some kind of fairy godmother that can grant their every wish for promotion, bonus or raise and then getting annoyed when I don’t deliver on their schedule. Reality is that in most companies there are processes and multiple decision makers for rewards and the direct manager endorsement is only the first step.

I hate “Show me the money!”

My favorite quote from the movie happens towards the second half. After months of representing the athletically gifted, but teamwork skills deprived football player Rod Tidwell, Jerry shouts at him – “Help me… help you. Help me, help you.” This is a turning point in the movie whereby character Rod Tidwell actually starts working with Jerry to take in feedback and adjust to get what he wants.

“Help me, help you” has become my new mantra for working with staff seeking promotions or rewards.

As a first step I like to help my staff understand the process and requirements for rewards. Some managers like to keep this a secret. Maybe they think it will keep expectations low if rewards come unexpectedly, but in my experience I think it causes frustration or distrust when people can’t understand why they are not ‘getting ahead’ or rewarded.

The next part is tough - brutal and honest feedback on where they sit against the requirements. It can be tough to deliver and to hear, but when you cast it against a desire for a reward it is sometimes easier to give. The message is “work with me, these are the things you need to focus on to get ahead”. Most people can appreciate that approach.

Finally we talk about the decision makers in the process. It’s a good opportunity to talk about how to showcase their work, or how to get them involved in projects which impact more of the organization.

Honestly any day I would settle for being able to “Show me the money!” – when you have great people you want to take care of them and appreciate them at will. But I will settle for the “Help me, help you” model - partnering on rewards can build trust which just might rub off onto other aspects of the manager/staff relationship.