In actual work, it is common for many enterprise managers to use "let it go this time" (xia bu wei li) to deal with employees and subordinates who violate rules and regulations, and they euphemistically call it humanized management. Some managers even like to announce decisions of "let it go this time" for employees and subordinates at meetings or in public places, to show their lenient management style. However, in practice, this approach leaves endless troubles.
Institutionalization has always been a persistent effort for many enterprises to strengthen management, but in reality, institutionalization in many enterprises becomes a mere formality. A large number of rules are shelved, and employees still act as they please despite the rules. Some experts and managers attribute this phenomenon to the Chinese people's weak awareness of rules and low employee quality. Of course, there are cultural factors in the ineffective promotion of institutionalization, but little do they know that "let it go this time" is also an important factor preventing the effective advancement of institutionalization.
So what are the main harms of "let it go this time" to enterprise management?
First, it harms the authority of the rules.
Once an enterprise rule is introduced, it should have a certain rigidity. Violators should pay a corresponding price, so that they can learn a lesson and recognize the seriousness of the rules. At the same time, it serves as a warning to those employees who are tempted to violate the rules with a fluke mentality. Over time, adhering to the rules will form a habit of conscious compliance. However, "let it go this time" makes the rules lose their authority, and rules without authority are naturally difficult to enforce effectively. But some managers might say that "let it go this time" only applies to first-time offenders, while repeat offenders are punished according to the rules, so it does not deny the authority of the rules.
In fact, it is this kind of thinking that harms these managers. This is because an enterprise's rules cannot be just one kind. If this rule can be "let go this time," then can all rules be "let go this time"? If all rules are subject to "let it go this time," how can the authority of the rules exist? If employees are all trying to violate a rule once to win a "lenient treatment" of "let it go this time," then who will consider where the authority of the rules lies? So if managers really want to implement "let it go this time," they should write it directly into the rules. Obviously, no manager would do that.
It will undermine the fairness of the rules.
In the process of promoting institutionalization, enterprises need to establish the principle that everyone is equal before the rules. Otherwise, if the rules are seen as a game targeting people rather than matters, it will be difficult for everyone to be convinced and thus comply.
Although managers think that "let it go this time" is their "leniency beyond the rules" for first-time offenders, and that the unpunished will be grateful, and their warning can also serve as a deterrent to other employees, little do they know that this has already undermined the fairness of the rules. Everyone will think, "Why can he get 'let it go this time' but I cannot?" Moreover, the manager's original intention is hard to achieve. The person who gets "let it go this time" will initially think the manager is taking care of them, thus developing a sense of superiority.
Since it can be "let go this time," maybe next time there can be "leniency beyond the rules" again. So the person who got "let it go this time" will become the first "brave" to continue violating the rules. This puts the manager in a very awkward position: if they punish, the gratitude of these people turns into resentment; if they don't punish, other employees become unmanageable. As for other employees, since the rules are unfair, why should they honestly comply?
It will damage the manager's authority and credibility.
Here is a case: At a sales work meeting in a company, the sales vice president announced a punishment decision for a sales manager who had violated the rules. But as soon as it was announced, the manager immediately protested. The vice president angrily said, "This is the company's rule. You violated it and should be punished. How can you have objections?"
The sales manager immediately shouted, "I have no objection to being punished for violating the rules, but last month Manager Wang also violated the same rule. Why didn't you punish him? This time I violated it, and you want to punish me. Aren't you treating people differently? Are you relatives?"
The vice president continued, "Last month, the rule had just been announced not long ago. Manager Wang was the first to violate it after the announcement. I already said that considering Manager Wang was the first offender after the rule was introduced, I said 'let it go this time.' Whoever violates it in the future will be punished according to the rules. Didn't you hear my words at that time?"
The sales manager seemed even more agitated: "Manager Wang was not punished for his first violation. This is also my first violation. Why should he not be punished for his first offense, but I have to be punished for my first offense? Anyway, I don't accept the punishment. Either everyone is punished, or no one is punished for their first offense."
The meeting had to be adjourned amid the argument, and some topics that were supposed to be discussed could not proceed.
From the above case, it is not difficult to see that although the sales manager's way of handling the problem was inappropriate, the root cause lay with the sales vice president. His "let it go this time" made him taste the bitter fruit he had brewed.
So, although "let it go this time" seems to be a feasible management tool in the eyes of managers, improper handling can seriously damage the manager's authority and credibility. It will directly cause employees and subordinates to question the rules and words promoted by the manager, leading to a loss of trust in the manager and making the manager's work ineffective.
It will form a toxic culture in the enterprise where everyone does not follow the rules.
In an enterprise, whether you admit it or not, there is always a culture, and this culture affects employees' daily behavior. In a sense, what kind of corporate culture there is, there will be corresponding employee behavior. This is because no one can escape the influence of their environment, and more frighteningly, this influence is a subtle process that happens unconsciously. We often see that employees in a company with standardized management and strict rule enforcement will consciously comply with the rules, but when they go to a company with chaotic management where no one takes the rules seriously, over time they become employees who do not care about the rules.
So once "let it go this time" becomes a cultural phenomenon in the company, it will cultivate a habit of "let it go this time" among subordinates and employees in their daily work. Over time, the enterprise will form a phenomenon where everyone does not follow the rules, and thus the toxic culture of the enterprise is born.
So when our managers are still complaining about employees' lack of rule awareness, weak execution, and difficult management, they can reflect on whether they themselves are managers who use "let it go this time." In fact, sometimes management is not complicated; the most important thing in the world is the word "seriousness."
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