Toads

This last week, through the community action team, we saw a presentation by Craig Olson from the Hayward WI School District on their initiatives to get community support for the local schools and students. It was a very motivating to see what they have done in just 2 years. One of the concepts that really hit home for me was what Mr. Olson called – RockStars, Check Collectors, and Toads – This is his way of classifying employees of the school district. In actuality every organization probably has these same classification of employees. Here is what I took away from this discussion and how I think it applies to business.

To begin with, there is the idea that to make good employees you need passion. An employee should have three things, Passion for what they do. Desire to get better. Willingness to make a difference everyday. If an employee has these three things, then basic skills can be taught. An employee who has all of this would be considered a RockStar. In Mr. Olson’s presentation he pointed out that we all know RockStar teachers. The ones who really stand out, who care about kids and have a passion for what they do and they make a difference in kids lives. These are the types of teachers and employees we all want.

Check Collectors – these are the employees who do a good job, but really just put in their time. They work hard, but don’t do it with passion. They will do what you ask happily, but probably won’t notice to do it on their own. I would say that a majority of the work force is in this category. At one time they were probably RockStars, but the system or bad management has turned them into check collectors. I would also say that most can be RockStars again if given some good direction and leadership and if they have a passion for what they do.

Toads – I love this – These are the employees that a constantly negative and / or disruptive to the organization. They are not outwardly so, but their actions and their attitude is pervasive and affect those around them. These are the employees who play solitaire when no one is around and crump and crumble when new initiatives are discussed. Mostly they sit and say “ribbit, ribbit”. These employees really have no business in your organization and either need to change or get out.

As you can see this is a bit of a continuum and the good news is an employee is not stuck in one position or another. RockStars can backslide and Toads can improve to being RockStars. A good leader will work with his employees so they all know what is expected to be RockStars and that they have the ability to become one. By the same token, a good leader will set the expectation, that Toads and Check Collectors are not needed in his organization.

The main take away for me is that as a leader, I need to set a clear expectation for performance and then hold my employees accountable.   In addition, I need my employees to understand that they may not all be RockStars yet, but they all have the potential.   We can work together to get there or you can move on to something else.

I really like the way this was explained and all though my organization has something similar that is part of the review process, I never thought of it in these terms. I am really doing a disservice to my employees and my company by not setting clear expectations and then working with all my employees to improve. I guess in some ways we can all be Check Collectors.