Top 3 Reasons Why CEOs Should Fire Monster Managers ASAP! (Part 2)

Failure to remove bad apples includes lost productivity, legal liability and bad PR.

Attention CEOs in corporate America and around the world: whether you know it or not, there are “monster managers” lurking within the confines of your company.

These mid-level managers can turn a productive workplace into a cesspool. However, you might not know it because monster managers aren’t always easy to spot from the C-suite.

This is the second installment in a multi-part series examining the major costs of what I call “monster managers” to companies and their workforce alike.

Following are the Top 3 compelling business reasons why CEOs and/or executive leadership should fire monster managers ASAP!

1) Lost Productivity 2) Legal Liability 3) Bad PR & Crisis Comms

Monster managers not only poison the work environment but also cost companies untold millions of dollars in lost productivity.

These unsavory characters can make an employee’s work life miserable. The unenviable result is less employee engagement, lower job satisfaction, plummeting morale and increased absenteeism — all of which hurt bottom-line productivity for any organization.

These colossal costs are especially high within corporate America and for global companies. Monster managers can wreak legal havoc for a company and cause PR nightmares which taint the brand image.

This usually occurs when brave workers who are victimized by brutish bosses publicly “blow the whistle” either internally or via the news media andcsocial media — because they’re “mad as hell” and simply can’t take it anymore.

But axing monster managers doesn’t occur nearly enough. Usually, the targeted workers are forced to suffer in silence (more on that upcoming in this series).

The C-suite must play a greater role in identifying and banishing monster managers to promote a more productive work culture.

Derailing Productivity

While it’s true that some monster managers make the proverbial trains run on time, they also prevent the team from doing its best work by derailing employee productivity — mainly through fear tactics and abusive behavior.

Some targeted employees might be so intimated that they hide in restroom stalls or dive under their desk when the monster manager lurks nearby.

Although most savvy companies foster positive work environments on a macro level, it’s likely that at least a few mid-level monster managers are causing big trouble at the micro level. That is, behind the scenes and without the knowledge of the C-suite.

Business owners, boards and CEOs must remember that lost productivity caused by monster managers translates into less company revenue and poor quarterly earnings reports on Wall Street!

This, in turn, can negatively impact company stock price in a big way. And, as we know, stock losses — based on the frequency and extent — can cause the board of directors to take action against the CEO, and all because of a few monster managers.

An attitude of indifference toward monster managers can cause a domino effect coming full circle for the CEOs per their own termination.

• Why let a few bad apples ruin an otherwise good bunch?
• But what defines a monster manager?

Monster managers can be defined as malicious, vicious, insidious, toxic and draconian in their adverse actions toward targeted employees.

Legal Liability

Monster managers not only cost companies in terms of lost employee productivity, but legal liability.

If bad mangers discriminate or harass their staff, they can be subject to internal complaints and HR/EEO investigations to determine the merits of the charges against them.

Keep in mind that the local or national labor union might also file concurrent grievances against the CEO — the same CEO who decided to take no action against the monster manager in the first place (how ironic).

This costs companies time and money best spent elsewhere.

Then there’s actual litigation. Lawyers cost companies big money, especially when they are represented by elite corporate law firms (which is usually the case). Moreover, once the lawsuit is filed it immediately becomes a public record and press releases can be issued by attorneys for the plaintiff(s).

This leads to dreadful PR and/or national and global mass media coverage — which, again, can cause stock prices to plummet and boards to fire CEOs, especially if the board cares about ESG principles and/or corporate social responsibility.

Bad PR & Crisis Comms

Having been in the trenches for three decades (starting in my early 20s) as a federal government spokesman, journalist and current PR consultant, I can promise you that heads will roll if the company suffers major PR embarrassment and/or damage to the sacrosanct brand image.

Any crisis communication debacle (external, internal or both) can magnify alleged management malfeasance resulting from litigation — whether in perception or reality.

NOTE: it should be noted for non-media types that perception IS reality regarding bad PR and negative news coverage.

But bad PR may also come from the labor unions, or even just one disgruntled employee — not to mention a group of them — speaking out to traditional media or posting on social media.

And you know that saying, “The toothpaste can’t be put back in the tube” once it’s out. Thus, even one bad media story may lead to more company scrutiny and additional bad PR.

This can ultimately manifest in a tsunami of negative media stories on a broad level — not to mention negative social media and other more primitive forms of communication (like talking, texting or emailing).

There’s a good reason why every Fortune 1000 company has an in-house corporate communications staff.

In short, bad media coverage can easily cause lasting damage to the company’s all important (if not sacred) brand image.

And we haven’t even mentioned the negative impact that bad PR can cause to the consumer base, which may lead to severing brand loyalty, as well as affecting the workforce— all of which is obviously anathema to the company’s mission and strategic goals.

The Takeaway

In essence, monster managers hurt bottom-line productivity by wreaking havoc and fear mongering under false pretenses. This often leads to a cascade of bad outcomes, which may include employee complaints, litigation, as well as terrible PR and lasting damage to the brand image.

The only end-result of NOT firing monster managers is a toxic workplace with panic-stricken staff doing substandard work. CEOs need to wake up to this unfortunate reality before they receive a pink slip themselves.

CEOs need to show strong leadership by identifying and ousting monster managers ASAP — there’s no time to waste.

AUTHOR’S NOTE: This is Part 2 of an ongoing multi-part series about monster managers and the irrevocable damage they can cause for companies and the workforce alike. Stay tuned for Part 3, coming soon…

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: I’m a former communications executive and longtime spokesman for the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). Prior to that I worked at the White House, OMB, Congress, and in the news media. You can learn more about me here.

cc: gab1930s Dennis Koluris • M.Sc. Indy Grant Saba Saqlain Jeffrey Leon VIKAS Bluesapphire Kurt Dillon Bill Stankiewicz Marc Rundquist John White, MBA Susy Botello Elwood Watson, Ph.D.