In The Plastic Owl, Bev Evancic discussed the importance of identifying new employees early to ensure they do not become a Plastic Owl. Now, I want to introduce The Antelope Theory, which helps truly understand who you’ve hired once they join your organization.
The Antelope Instinct
If you think about an antelope, what is its first instinct when approached by a lion? It runs.
- If a lion approaches at night? It runs.
- In the rain? It runs.
- After a sleepless night caring for another antelope? It runs.
- With a headache? It runs.
Regardless of the circumstances—whether having a good or bad day, feeling happy or sad—an antelope will always run. This is its core instinct. Now, let’s translate this concept to the workplace.
Who Have You Hired?
People develop basic instincts from birth, shaped by childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. While individuals can adapt when they have time to prepare, their core instincts define how they respond in uncontrolled, high-pressure, or unexpected situations.
When interviewing and hiring, candidates often present a polished version of themselves. This can sometimes make it difficult to determine if they are truly the right fit—or if, in time, they will reveal themselves as a Plastic Owl.
How to Determine Who You Hired
The only way to understand a person’s instincts is to observe them in real-life work situations. I want to know how a person will respond on a good day or a bad day, when they are happy or sad, when faced with challenges, tight deadlines, or workplace transitions like remote work.
A useful exercise is to ask employees:
- If I asked your parents, significant other, children, coworkers, and friends to describe your three core instincts or traits, what would they say?
Encouraging self-reflection helps individuals recognize their strengths and areas for growth.
People can change, but only when they recognize the need to do so. Training, therapy, and new experiences all play a role in reshaping instincts over time.
A Lesson in Honest Feedback
A story my father once shared with me highlights the importance of direct, constructive feedback. He managed an experienced employee who had been with the company for years. During a performance review, my father pointed out several areas where the employee was underperforming. The individual was initially upset and disagreed with the assessment. However, a few days later, he returned and said, “Why has no one ever told me this before? If someone had shared this feedback earlier in my career, I would have worked to improve.” He realized he had lost opportunities for growth simply because no one had been honest with him.
This lesson stuck with me. As I moved into leadership, I prioritized transparent, constructive feedback and performance management to help employees take ownership of their performance and careers.
Avoiding difficult conversations doesn’t help employees—it holds them back.
Why This Matters
There has been significant discussion about the Probationary Period for new employees, particularly in government roles. Many organizations have policies that allow for easier separation if an employee isn’t the right fit early on.
Identifying a Plastic Owl quickly is critical because the longer they stay, the harder it becomes to part ways.
Additionally, a Plastic Owl can negatively impact workplace morale and productivity. Recognizing instincts early helps ensure you’re fostering a team of true antelopes—individuals whose instincts align with the demands of their roles and the organization’s values.
Final Thoughts
Understanding an employee’s core instincts helps build stronger teams, improve performance, and ensure long-term success.
If you take the time to observe and assess new hires from the start, you can better guide them — or recognize when it’s time to let them go.
For more of our wildlife series, see:
The Lesson of the Plastic Owl
The Plastic Owl Chronicles: A Wildlife Series on Hiring in Debt Collections — Part Two
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Author: Ken Evancic
Ken.Evancic@ResourceManagement.com
As a consultant for Resource Management Services, Ken provides consulting, training and mentoring in all phases of collection and recovery, in addition to auditing third party vendors.
Ken Evancic is a Vice President at Resource Management Services, Inc. Ken Evancic is a collections veteran with over 25 years experience. He has managed all phases of collection, including all levels of delinquency, automated dialer units, early out agency management, recovery, and skip tracing. In addition to collections operations management, he has lead initiatives in the areas of performance management, collections strategy development, collector and manager training, collector desktop design, collections reporting systems, and risk and compliance.
As a consultant for Resource Management Services, Inc., Ken has specialized in developing and completing third party compliance and performance audits for collections agencies and collection attorney firms for many top credit grantors and debt buyers. He has leveraged his 25 years of experience to develop multiple collector and collection management training classes designed to maximize collector performance. In addition to collection training, Ken helped develop and facilitates the RMS Third Party Vendor Auditing training.
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If you need some training assistance for your team, you may want to consider:
Bump It Up! Your Collections Success-Virtual Training for Your Team, taught by Ken Evancic.
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