Dear Liz,
I started a digital marketing agency in 2012 and it grew very fast.
By 2015 we had 17 full-time employees and over twenty contractors working with us. I did not want to run a big agency and I started looking for a potential buyer. I sold the agency in mid-2016.
My chief designer, "Alex," is a huge asset to our company and a key player in the larger agency that owns us now. Alex is a super-talented person and a great team player but he is not a corporate guy in any way.
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At our new agency, they don't mind Alex's casual attire or his outspokenness (he is almost always right) but they cannot deal with his working hours.
Alex was not excited about the sale. He has to understand that I am not the owner of the company anymore.
I am a VP in the agency, one of four VPs. I am still Alex's boss but there are corporate rules we all have to follow, even me.
I used to tell Alex he could work from the office or from home or wherever he wanted to work. This winter has been very tough in our area and it's not over yet. We've had four or five major snowstorms.
When it snows more than an inch or two, Alex texts me to tell me he's going to work from home that day.
That doesn't go over well with the leadership here (or HR) because sometimes Alex works from home two or three days a week, and one week he worked from home every day. They are very fussy here about telecommuting because they say "If Alex is allowed to work from home whenever he wants, other people will start to do it."
Alex knows that the company has policies about working from home and he can't just text me to say "I'm not coming in today," but I don't think he cares.
I'm in a bad spot because I need Alex more than he needs this job. I got one big check when my agency was acquired but the rest of the sale price will be paid out to me over time based on my team's results.
Alex is a huge part of that effort and I am between a rock and a hard place.
So far I've gotten nowhere trying to get corporate HR to see Alex's point of view.
He says "Why should I spend 90 minutes driving in snow and ice to come to the office? It's a waste of time. I can do my work from anywhere" and of course, he's right.
Between Skype and other tools there's really not much reason for Alex to come to the city most days. Now we are heading into a situation where I will be forced to terminate Alex over this issue if something doesn't change, and of course I don't want to do that.
I consider Alex a friend as well as a co-worker and our work together is the most successful collaboration I've ever experienced.
What should I do?
Thanks,
Virginia
Dear Virginia,
I don't mean to be harsh, but you made your bed when you sold your company to people whose standards and culture you didn't understand. To be blunt, you took the money and threw Alex under the bus.
One of your agency's greatest assets is a guy who doesn't need to drive to the city on a snowy day, and you put that asset at risk without thinking the situation through.
Alex is in the right. Your new corporate masters are in the wrong. You messed up. You took the big paycheck and now the rest of your payout is at risk because you didn't do your due diligence.
You didn't tell your buyer "One of our most important people will need more flexibility around working from home than your agency normally allows." You didn't handle that issue up front, and now it has become a major problem.
You won't learn a thing from this experience unless you see your part in the debacle!
I would love to think that when you got your big paycheck, Alex got a big paycheck too but I see no indication in your letter that that is the case. It's great that you see Alex as a collaborator and partner to you, but from his standpoint he is just another box on the organizational chart now.
You need Alex more than he needs you, and that is the pain that got you to write to me -- not your concern about Alex as a person. Why should Alex worry if he gets fired? He can get another job in a heartbeat.
You blew it when you sold your team to a new corporate master who doesn't feel the way you feel about telecommuting for creative people.
Now you are compounding that error by wringing your hands over the fact that your new employer is being inflexible with Alex -- but how can you complain?
You haven't gone to bat for Alex.
Forget corporate HR -- if you care about keeping Alex on your team, you will find your voice and backbone and talk to whichever executive decided that buying your company was a good idea.
That person surely knows what Alex means to your agency and its financial results.
You are not a bystander in this scenario. You engineered every piece of it and you will fix it if anyone will.
If you lose Alex, you can't blame him or the agency you work for.
If you think I am being hard on you, remember that Mother Nature is the best (and most unforgiving) teacher of all -- and much tougher than me!
Did you expect Alex to buckle down and transform himself into Mr. Nine to Five Corporate Guy just because you made the decision to sell your company? I know a lot of creative Alex types and I can't think of one who would take that deal just because you asked them to.
Alex may be job-hunting now -- I hope he is, for his sake. The painful truth is that you used Alex's talent to grow your company to the point where you could sell it for a bundle, and you threw Alex under the bus in the process of cashing out.
This telecommuting flap is nothing more than the chickens coming home to roost.
I hope this experience teaches you that valuing people is very different from using them for your own purposes and then tossing them aside.
Alex knows what his talents are worth -- but sadly, it's not clear that you do.
All the best --
Liz
