Unfortunately when times get rough, companies cut budgets and do everything they can to save. The work gets harder and we expect more from our employees. Employees feel the tension rise and they become tense. Inside we clench and we start to conserve our energy and efforts. To management, it looks as though we are slowing down when in essence we are hunkering for a cold winter. Companies lay off employees in order to be able to keep the ship afloat; they expect more from their employees. The employees get scared and do whatever they can to not be noticed. Management notices we have put our head down and are struggling to move forward. Management returns to its basic instinct. They get behind us, yell “YAH!!”, and crack the whip. We get started, jump forward, and bring up the pace out of fear.

What has happened now is the beginning of the worst kind of work cycle. When a manager sees for the first time that cracking the whip and yelling has worked, it will become the method of operation. I remember as a child watching barrel races at the local town rodeo. Cowboys would race around three barrels and run back to the finish line. For me it was easy to see who the winner would be. Many cowboys would yell and kick their horse all through the obstacle course and at the end slap the horse for not going fast enough. Others would do a quick “HA!” with a kick and the horse would explode into motion. I would hear the cowboy talking to the horse in calmer tones throughout the race. “Come on boy! Go…Turn…that’s it…go, go, go!” and in the end I would see the horse get an apple right at the finish line.

I remember a manager who loved the phrase “Your will be subject to discipline, up to and including termination.” It was posed everywhere in one form or another. I even saw it on a new sales incentive for his team. I think it might have been tattooed over his heart, for it seemed almost comical how often I heard the phrase whenever he would communicate to his employees. This manager knew that such a phrase was a quick short term solution to getting whatever he needed. It was a short term solution because eventually the entire team quit. New hires never stayed, productivity fell, and the manager is working for the competition (and that was probably the most productive thing that could ever have happened….for us). As fun as it is to have bad managers work for the other guy, it was a sorry exercise in the long term futility of fear.

Now I have to say that as a recovering Human Resource Professional, I have used the phrase too. You have to. Every employee needs to know the boundaries of acceptable behavior. I also know that the phrase is as common as saying “Smoking may be hazardous to your health” and, when overused, is just as easily ignored. For many of us, we learn to tune it out and our behavior changes. For other employees who internalize these threats (and yes, they are nothing more than threats) it leads to unhealthy, stressful, and often unproductive time at work. We wake up in the morning and lament having to go to work. The end result is the entire workforce population looking for the exit. They may not take it right away and, in this economy, many don’t. But the manager inevitably does not realize he is one happy story away from workforce oblivion. The moment word gets out from a former employee that he has found a happier workplace where the sticks are fewer than the carrots…the exodus will begin.

Fear works; but only as long as you, the employee, allow it. Management knows this. Many successful leaders have learned when to inspire people to action….sometimes they inspire fear. You may not have the power to stop it (although in Canada you can sue for mental harassment), but you can have the power to keep it out of your life. When you determine that the stick hurts more than the carrots that are offered, you will do what you have to do. The good news is that strategies to find a better place to work are everywhere. Your key to freedom is discovering that you can be free. When you realize that you trade hours of your life (completely non-refundable in the circle of life) for money, fame, success or whatever your employer offers, then you will find your tipping point. You will find where the carrot stick balance is acceptable for you. I know a financial institution that has to pay their employees an incredibly high salary because of the brutal intimidation tactics of management… the carrot outweighs the stick. I also know companies that pay total crap, bury employees with expectations, and treat them like a stale bag of French fries only to be used and discarded and re-ordered from HR. I hear stories of joy and happiness everyday from those bags of fries… but the stories began when they left the company.

I know. The economy is far worse than what the papers say. Jobs are scarce. Everyone is frightened. Management knows this. They are scared too. Your boss’s boss is freaked out and beating on him with a stick as well. It goes all the way to the top. I predict that should the unemployment drop to 6%, it will be a feeding frenzy of talent because 95% of the people I know are DONE with the job they have. I know you would not have read this far if you didn’t feel it as well.

So what do you do? Hold your kids closer at night and tell yourself you are doing this for them. Go to a game. Run around the block. Control your stress. Bide your time.

Make your plan.

You can take charge of your situation. Cut your budget. Pretend you just lost your job and go on a search for greener pastures. Start a business. Spend time helping others. Don’t wait for the company to make plans for you. Make your plan now. It may be an exit strategy. It may be a way to get more carrots on your plate. It may be a way to get hold of the stick. (Don’t take the stick and use it to beat your manager…. that would subject you to discipline, up to and including termination.)