Policies vs. People

I've had a couple of recent conversations that have caused me to think about the reasons for poor leadership. How come so many organizations have overbearing policies? A friend related to me that at his workplace they recently implemented a strictly defined dress code - a list of what constituents appropriate attire for the office. When I inquired about what caused the policy, he explained that a co-worker routinely dressed in a very sloppy manner. So management's response was to develop a 'complete' description of the boundaries of office-wear. Now in reality this dress code does little to improve the sloppy employee (who was unable to follow the simple dress code let alone this complex one) however causes much frustration for his fellow employees who now feel oppressed by the 'legalistic' rules. Further, other employees may blame the rules on the offending employee. This is another example of the classic management failure - the solution that fixes no problems but causes more.

What is the better solution? Simple. The manger should discuss the offending employee's dress with him. This makes it clear to the individual employee (who is the real problem) without involving other employees. Most likely the individual will improve his dress.

So why do mangers not have these conversations? Fear. Simply put it is easier to 'draft a policy' than to have a difficult conversation with an employee. In reality the conversation doesn't need to be that difficult.