Likeable Employees - How Long Do You Hang On To Them Without Performance To Back It Up?
March 17, 2014
I'm on the record as a moderate republican, and while I'm not foaming at the mouth like many of my ultra-conservative friends about the performance of President Obama, I saw a clip from his recent "Between Two Ferns" video spoof and it hit me.
Obama's similar to a really likeable employee. Probably more likeable for a lot of America that most Presidents. But that also begs the question - at which point is being likeable not enough for an employee? How long does being likeable mask a lack of performance for that type of employee?
We've all hired likable employees in the past, only to have them fall down on the performance front. I'm like the influencer in the interview process when it comes to Obama - I thought you should have gone a different direction, but I have to admit - the guy you hired sure seems like a good guy. In addition to the Two Ferns video, there's also countless appearances on show like Jimmy Kimmel, and then there's even his family, which has seen Michelle Obama fake dunking on Dwyane Wade and Miami Heat coach Erik Spolstra in the Oval Office.
Fun. Likeable. But at what point is likeability not enough for an employee who's not producing?
But wait! There's also a chance that being likeable generates performance and opportunity you're not considering. More on the Two Ferns video from Tech Crunch:
President Obama’s hilarious “Between Two Ferns” cameo is on its way to becoming one of the most viral videos in Funny or Die history. It spiked visits to Healthcare.gov an impressive 40%, compared to the day before. Unfortunately, this latest political touchdown was made in the 4th quarter and the White House is still way short of its goal.
Of course, not matter how much unique opportunity like that the rare skills of the likeable employee can generate, there's still performance metrics that rule the day:
"They are still about 2.8 million enrollees short of their original goal of 7 million for the March 31st enrollment deadline. So, how many more viral videos a day does the Administration need to meet its goals? Let’s get nerdy with the numbers.
So, if all of the 40% more Funny or Die visitors had the same propensity to buy health insurance, we would have about 42,000 enrollees a day, for every day the administration released a viral video.
If the administration needs 1 million more signups, it still needs about 24 more viral videos (1M divided by 42K). Or, two videos a day for the next 12 days. (to meet its goal)"
Likeable employees. Like fun sales pros, you love them. But there's still the matter of performance and quota.
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