Last month’s controversy over Shirley Sherrod, the official who was ousted from her position at the Agriculture Department after a video emerged in which her remarks were taken out of context and portrayed her making racially discriminatory comments, was revived again this week when she publicly declined the opportunity to return to the agency. As a bit of a refresher, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, had called for Sherrod’s immediate resignation directly following the release of this video clip. However, once the entire video was later released, it became clear that the remainder of her speech actually called for the need for all people to overcome their racial prejudices. As President Obama put it, “Vilsack jumped the gun” in his dismissal of Sherrod.
The flurry of media and attention that resulted from this quick decision to let Sherrod go from the USDA has great implications for human capitalists both in the public and private sectors. How many of us have jumped to a conclusion based on partial information? How often do we feel pressure to act decisively, especially in a society where information is shared instantaneously through social media?
The term “Vilsacked” has been coined as a way to address what has happened to Sherrod as a result of this knee-jerk reaction to the video. Essentially, it describes “the act of being fired from your job for something you didn’t do, especially when you’ve proven to have done the complete opposite of the accusation.”
In this case, acting too fast, and without conducting the proper due diligence, resulted in a huge mistake, an embarrassment for the federal agency, and ultimately the loss of top talent. There are many lessons to take away from the Sherrod story, perhaps most importantly, that hiring and firing decisions cannot be made loosely, but instead they must be integrated into a formal performance management system that is built on values of consistency, fairness, and due diligence.
Equally important is the learning that once a mistake like this occurs, it is incredibly difficult to repair the relationship with the affected party, in order to regain their trust and reintegrate them into the organizational culture, despite pleas from Vilsack as well as a personal apology from President Obama himself. As Sherrod mentioned, “…when you’ve been bitten once, it’s hard to go back and put yourself out there…. The secretary said he put some other methods in place so that what happened to me won't happen again. I certainly don't want to be the one to test that." How can organizations prevent future mishaps similar to this one so that they don’t put their talent pipeline at risk?
Ultimately, serious work needs to be done at the USDA to retrain leaders through coaching and other methods to understand the root causes of this problem, how to prevent it in the future, and how to build a more inclusive and deliberate decision-making environment. It all comes down to effective decision making, due-diligence, and balancing speed with effectiveness.
The Sherrod example is just one of many that demonstrates the type of human capital challenges we face everyday both in the public and private sector. We’re counting on your attendance and participation in our upcoming 2010 Government Talent Management Summit to continue the dialogue. Don’t forget to take this short survey on Talent Management practices in Government.
