Tea "Sergeant Schultz" Syndrome

If you are a fan of 1960s television, you will definitely remember the comedy Hogan’s Heroes. If not, let me give you some background. It was set in a prisoner of war camp in Germany during World War II. Led by an American colonel named Hogan, a group of prisoners of war manipulates a group of clumsy German guards and officers to sabotage the German war machine.

One of the main characters in this satire was Sergeant Schultz, a large, burly teddy bear of a guard who could easily be bribed with food and avoided conflict like the plague. Whenever he saw the prisoners involved in some kind of evil, he would say, “I don’t see anything, I don’t hear anything, and I don’t know anything.” Schultz would then turn around and walk away pretending nothing was wrong.

Although the television series has been off the air for several years, Sergeant Schultz’s spirit lives on in the workplace.

I have come across various supervisors and managers throughout my career who behave like Sergeant Schultz. They often put off any action because they want to avoid unpleasant discussions with employees or because they don’t want to risk making employees angry. Sometimes they just wait and wonder if the problem is really worth mentioning. Other times they avoid taking corrective action because they feel they do not have the support of senior management. Sometimes, it is because they lack the skills and abilities to handle these types of situations.

In most situations, however, procrastination hurts the employee, the management, and the organization. The longer an employee is allowed to perform at unacceptable levels, the more difficult it will be to correct that performance. An employee who performs in an unacceptable manner damages his relationships with others and loses credibility. That credibility can be very difficult to regain if the problem continues for a long time.

Your credibility as a leader can also suffer, because you will eventually lose the respect and cooperation of your team if you try to shirk your responsibility to train to improve. Uncontrolled underperformance and uncontrolled behavior problems erode the standards you have set by confusing and frustrating employees who adhere to these standards.

Failing to correct a performance or work habit problem can also have far-reaching effects on each member of your team. If an employee does not produce as expected or breaks established work rules, it is not fair to others who must take over or who legitimately expect everyone to follow the rules.

I once worked in a place where Sergeant Schultz syndrome flourished. It was a very unhealthy work environment. Unacceptable behavior is not controlled or challenged and therefore becomes the norm. Employees and management were not being respected, absenteeism hovered around 25%, morale was abysmally low, and the business was suffering. There was no order or structure. It was everything possible to lose to the chaos. Needless to say, it took a great deal of energy and time to change the situation and make the behavioral changes that were required.

If you want to avoid such situations in your workplace, ban Sergeant Schultz. Exile him to Siberia. He’s a good guy, but as Leo Durocher, the late Chicago Cubs manager, once said, “Good guys finish last.” Nobody likes to finish last !!