What style of management is your organisation cultivating? – Eight management “types” you might want to avoid

Anyone who knows me knows I’m passionate about the importance of managers to the success of an organisation.

If you have any doubts that the quality of management can make a significant difference to your bottom line, just take a moment consider the devastating effects of poor management:

• demoralised staff;
• high staff turnover;
• high incidences of tension, conflict, absenteeism and stress related problems;
• difficulty recruiting into the team and
• low productivity.

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Five Key Mistakes Which Can Kill Motivation, Morale And Engagement

What is morale like in your organisation?

What is morale like in your team?

And if an organisation is facing a lot of tough challenges, restructuring, or jobs are under pressure, is it possible to maintain strong morale despite the situation?

Whilst the tone for the type of place you work in has to be set at the very top, it’s the job of the managers to implement day in, day out. They’re the “front line”; their behaviours and expectations will set the standards for how people feel and respond to all sorts of situations.

Can a manager improve morale regardless of circumstances?

Yes. I believe they can.

Being a manager is always a challenge. Managing the people bit is always tricky, but maintaining morale, engagement and motivation is a critical part of any manager’s role.

Even in good times a manager needs to maintain engagement and minimise complacency. When business is slow, or there’s lots of internal change and pressure, a manager needs to know how to respond and work with their team in such a way as to keep people on board.

Whatever the strategy for the team or organisation ....

A manager has to win hearts and minds if he or she wants to see their team perform at their best.

But building such high performing teams doesn’t happen accidentally.

It is the result of behaviours, values and beliefs which underpin the way people work together. Sometimes these values or beliefs are unspoken, sometimes they operate at an almost sub-conscious level: but they are still affecting the attitudes, behaviours and performance of every single individual within the team and wider organisation.

It’s up to the manager to communicate “How we do things around here”.

Sometimes, however, despite the best of intentions, despite setting and clearly communicating the expectations and vision for how people work together, some things sabotage the results.  Take a look at the following and see if any of these apply to you or your organisation.

FIVE COMMON “KILLERS” OF MORALE

1. INCONGRUENT ACTIONS
   When the boss does or says one thing – then turns around and does or reinforces the opposite, employees are quick to see the inconsistencies. The more your staff see this happen, the more they lose respect for and trust in the individual manager or the  wider organisation.
   High trust environments are built on consistent and congruent actions.
   Erosion of trust dampens morale and creates negative emotions inconsistent with high productivity.

2. NO ACTION
   Another common failing is leaders who “talk a good talk” – that is they state grand visions, plaster values and belief statements everywhere – but then take little or no action to ensure these grand statements are actually followed through.
   It is hard to expect your staff to take vision statements seriously when staff see that nothing actually happens. They can be forgiven for thinking “we’ve heard this all before”, or “here goes yet another meaningless initiative.”
   Managers must act on their vision – and they must act in a reasonable time frame.

3. OVER-COMPLICATING THE VISION
   Sometimes leaders state visions so complicated people can barely read them – let alone remember them.
   If people can’t remember the vision, chances are it isn’t simple enough.

4. LOST IN DETAIL
   Some managers are so detail oriented that they simply find it hard to understand the idea of vision. They are consumed by detail, and give little attention to thinking about tomorrow and the “big picture” in a creative way.
   It’s not that details aren’t important, but they should not be the sole focus.

5. SABOTAGING THE VISION
   Sometimes, some people within the organisation try to sabotage the vision. They understand it, but try to work in the opposite direction. Other people know they are doing this; and they expect the leadership does too. If nothing is done to stop these efforts then those who are genuinely trying to adhere to the vision end up thinking, “What’s the use?”
   Managers must act swiftly when they see this happening.  And it begins, not with a reprimand, but with a  question – to understand why people are behaving in this way.

Do any of these exist in your team or your organisation?

By taking time to uncover some of these “morale killers”, and taking steps to change things, a manager can improve morale – at least within his or her own team, and sometimes, even despite morale issues in the wider organisation.

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For more information to help you with the people side of management,
including how to improve employee motivation and get the best out of your team, take a look at these great resources:

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PEOPLE SKILLS TRAINING FOR MANAGERS – CAN YOU AFFORD NOT TO?

OK, so I have a vested interest. Yes, I am a trainer and coach – and yes, I increasingly find myself helping managers hone their people skills. But when I started out in coaching and training I hadn’t particularly decided that was to be my focus.

My focus on people skills developed because the problems, issues and challenges which people presented me with were all challenges caused by lack of confidence or skill in dealing with people.  I found managers struggling with apathetic staff; with “difficult” staff; with de-motivated staff; with underperforming staff; with appraising staff, with recruiting the right staff; with how best to develop their staff and even with unsupportive line managers of their own!

I could go on! I guess you get the picture?

I conduct surveys with all the managers I work with, whether they attend workshops, or as part of a 1-1 coaching programme; and what’s clear is a huge proportion feel they would appreciate more help with the people side of management – and they are only too aware of the implications of poor people management. After all, most of them can tell you a story of a “nightmare” line manager they’ve had in the past and what the results of that were!

A recent CIPD/ACAS report in June this year simply reinforced what I am finding in my own practice. As we find ourselves in the rather quiet period over the summer break, I’d like to share some of their findings because this is I think, quite a good time to reflect on and plan your strategy for the final quarter of 2009.

You’re busy, so for ease, I’ll bullet some of the main points from the report which particularly struck a chord with me.

• 80% of UK managers have been asked to do things at work for which they feel they should have been given some training beforehand. (Skillsoft survey, 2008)
• 78% of UK employees identified line management as the job function in most need of additional training  (Skillsoft)
• The UK spends less per manager on management development than any other European country (Leitch review 2006)
• Half of training and development at work is now initiated by line managers, as opposed to HR or training departments. (CIPD – Who learns at work? 2008)
• 44% of employees say their line manager rarely or never coaches them (CIPD 2009)
• 33% of employees say their line manager never discusses their training and development needs (CIPD 2009)

What are the implications of all this? Does it really matter? Does it make a difference to the outcome if a line manager is feeling uncertain how best to tackle some of the most common people issues?

Ruth Spellman, CEO of the Chartered Management Institute says this about training:

“If you think it’s expensive to have really competent people, try incompetent.”

How much does it cost you in wasted time dealing with conflict? (OPP Research , 2008, shows an average of 12 days a year are spent dealing with conflict in the workplace – more than time lost to absence).

How much does it cost you in time and money dealing with disciplinary or grievance procedures?

How much does it cost you to find, hire and re-train new staff because valuable, experienced staff  are leaving?

Study after study shows a huge proportion of employees leave bosses, not companies.

What’s heartening for me is that in my experience, as with all employees, managers want to do a good job. They want to be able to encourage a culture where people communicate well, where they give of their discretionary effort, where they are committed, loyal and enthusiastic, and where they have fun, learn and produce good results.

But with the exception of a very few, naturally talented and skilled communicators (and even these will tell you there is always room for improvement!), most managers come to the role with little or no understanding of basic human psychology and how to successfully and consistently apply techniques which will ensure they get the best out of themselves and others.

So as we head for the final quarter of 2009, what are you doing to support and develop the most critical roles in your organisation?

Money may be tight – but rather than simply take the simplest, and least creative route of putting all management development “on hold”, why not take the time in these quieter summer weeks to ask a more creative question:

“How can we still support and develop our managers despite financial pressures?”

You may not be able to justify the “bells and whistles” programme you had planned – but that doesn’t mean there aren’t ways you can still give some support. There’s a book called “Guerrilla Marketing” by Jay Conrad Levinson, which gives brilliant ways of marketing on a shoestring.  Perhaps it’s time to write a book called “Guerrilla training for managers!”

As a coach, I know it’s more about asking the right questions, to help you come up with better answers! So ask yourself what you can do to support your managers in the next 3 months and see what you come up with!

After all – you might actually find you save a bob or two!

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For more information to help you with the people side of management,
including how to improve employee motivation and get the best out of your team, take a look at these great resources:

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Management Skill Training – Can You Not Afford To?

OK, so I have a vested interest. Yes, I am a trainer and coach – and yes, I increasingly find myself helping managers hone their people and management skills. But when I started out in coaching and providing management skill training I hadn’t particularly decided that was to be my focus.

My focus on people skills developed because the problems, issues and challenges which people presented me with were all challenges caused by lack of confidence or skill in dealing with people. I found managers struggling with apathetic staff; with “difficult” staff; with de-motivated staff; with underperforming staff; with appraising staff, with recruiting the right staff; with how best to develop their staff and even with unsupportive line managers of their own!

I could go on! I guess you get the picture?

I conduct surveys with all the managers I work with, whether they attend workshops, or as part of a 1-1 coaching and training programme for managers; and what’s clear is a huge proportion feel they would appreciate more help with the people side of management – and they are only too aware of the implications of poor people management. After all, most of them can tell you a story of a “nightmare” line manager they’ve had in the past and what the results of that were!

People and Management Skill Training - CIPD Report

A recent CIPD/ACAS report in June this year simply reinforced what I am finding in my own practice. As we find ourselves in the rather quiet period over the summer break, I’d like to share some of their findings because this is I think, quite a good time to reflect on and plan your strategy for the final quarter of 2009.

You’re busy, so for ease, I’ll bullet some of the main points from the report which particularly struck a chord with me.

• 80% of UK managers have been asked to do things at work for which they feel they should have been given some training beforehand. (Skillsoft survey, 2008)
• 78% of UK employees identified line management as the job function in most need of additional training (Skillsoft)
• The UK spends less per manager on management development than any other European country (Leitch review 2006)
• Half of training and development at work is now initiated by line managers, as opposed to HR or training departments. (CIPD – Who learns at work? 2008)
• 44% of employees say their line manager rarely or never coaches them (CIPD 2009)
• 33% of employees say their line manager never discusses their management skill training and development needs (CIPD 2009)

What are the implications of all this? Does it really matter? Does it make a difference to the outcome if a line manager is feeling uncertain how best to tackle some of the most common people issues?

Ruth Spellman, CEO of the Chartered Management Institute says this about management training:
“If you think it’s expensive to have really competent people, try incompetent.”

How much does it cost you in wasted time dealing with conflict? (OPP Research , 2008, shows an average of 12 days a year are spent dealing with conflict in the workplace – more than time lost to absence).

How much does it cost you in time and money dealing with disciplinary or grievance procedures?

How much does it cost you to find, hire and re-train new staff because valuable, experienced staff are leaving?

Study after study shows a huge proportion of employees leave bosses, not companies.
What’s heartening for me is that in my experience, as with all employees, managers want to do a good job. They want to be able to encourage a culture where people communicate well, where they give of their discretionary effort, where they are committed, loyal and enthusiastic, and where they have fun, learn and produce good results.

But with the exception of a very few, naturally talented and skilled communicators (and even these will tell you there is always room for improvement!), most managers come to the role with little or no understanding of basic human psychology and how to successfully and consistently apply techniques which will ensure they get the best out of themselves and others.

So as we head for the final quarter of 2009, what are you doing to support and develop the most critical roles in your organisation?

Money may be tight – but rather than simply take the simplest, and least creative route of putting all management skill training and management training resources development “on hold”, why not take the time in these quieter summer weeks to ask a more creative question:

“How can we still support and develop our managers despite financial pressures?”

You may not be able to justify the “bells and whistles” programme you had planned – but that doesn’t mean there aren’t ways you can still give some support. There’s a book called “Guerrilla Marketing” by Jay Conrad Levinson, which gives brilliant ways of marketing on a shoestring. Perhaps it’s time to write a book called “Guerrilla training for managers!”

As a coach, I know it’s more about asking the right questions, to help you come up with better answers! So ask yourself what you can do to support your managers in the next 3 months and see what you come up with!

After all – you might actually find you save a bob or two!

---------------------------------------------------------------------

For more information to help you with the people side of management,
including how to improve employee motivation and get the best out of your team, take a look at these great resources:

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