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7 Ways to Get It Right And Give Management The Credit They Deserve

  By Christina Lattimer • May 5, 2014 - 3:37 pm

A Management role is a multi-talented one!

manager I have read so many negative reports about management over the last few months that I felt I had to stand up and hurl in a different perspective.   In the past few months, I’ve read quotes such as:

  • “three quarters of employers report a lack of leadership and management skills and too many managers have an inflated opinion of their ability to manage people”
  • “More than six out of ten people employed in customer facing sales and service roles say that their managers’ behaviour towards them [Negatively] affects the level of customer service they deliver.”
  • “Poor people management is at the root of much of the evil in our economy”
  • “Estimated cost of poor management in the UK is £19 Billion a year!”

What on earth is going on?  If I were still a manager I think I’d be feeling pretty battered by now.  So ok we have a problem Houston.  But what is the real problem?

For me, problem number one, is that although we all know the difference between leadership and management (Don’t we?)   We employ managers and complain they don’t lead and then we define leadership with models which talk about competencies such as leading from the front, vision and courage and integrity… to name but a few.  Attributes most managers can’t actually use because they have to deliver an already created and articulated vision, where the trail has already been blazed, and the values already decided.

We want managers to be people managers, but actually none of our outcomes or targets or values is about our people, so where do we expect them to focus?  Ok, so I’m stretching a point, or two, but I do think that those points illustrate that at times, just sometimes, managers can’t win.

I’m not going to get into the leadership debate in this blog; I’ll save that for another day.  Today, I am going to concentrate on the sometimes thankless task of being a manager and why I think our good managers need a big and hearty pat on the back.

And just a final observation about the bad press managers get.  With all the “poor” managers out there, I just have three questions.  Who is recruiting them?  Who is managing them? And who is letting poor managers get away with it to the extent that they have such a “negative” impact?  Well, someone is!

There was an advert a few years ago that featured a mother wearing different hats.  When her little girl cut her knee, she had the nurse cap on.  When she was helping her son with his homework, she donned the mortarboard, and finally when cooking dinner she wore her chef’s hat. (I know, I’m probably showing my age) Well for me, managers are like mothers, to the extent that they have many roles and have to wear many hats.

In most organisations, managers are multi-faceted.  They have to manage their people, their budget, their results locally and globally, the environment they work in, change management, training needs, absence, performance, initiatives, projects, the business plan, the people plan, stakeholders, partners, customers, reward, reviews, income, communications, processes, media, social responsibility, diversity,…….oh and of course the work. Need I go on?

I know that there are some great qualifications for managers and also managers pay is probably not too bad.  But what I do think is that managers are not given the actual credit for the demanding, time-consuming, multi-talented role they have to play in an organisations’ success.  It may have simply slipped my attention,  but I have honestly never heard an organisation come out and say things like “we owe our success to our multi-talented managers”  Or “the real backbone of the organisation is held together by our highly skilled managers”  High profile leaders tend to get the credit for great successes.

So how do we go about changing the image of our managers, and giving those good ones the credit that they are due?  Well here are my thoughts:

  1. Be clear about the limit of the leadership role the manager.  If a manager is an executor of an organisational vision, then specify that they have to have a team vision, which derives from the main vision.   They don’t have to be able to change the world.
  2. At recruitment stage, be clear about why you need the manager.  If their prime focus is people management, then make sure they have people management skills.  If you want a people manager and the successful candidate has written a great thesis on your range of products and the best way to sell them, then you are on the wrong tack.
  3. Develop potential within the organisation, with brilliant role models and clear demonstrations of the skills, behaviours and standards expected.
  4. If your organisation only has aims and targets based on product or service, then that’s where your managers will place their attention.  If you want them to manage your people, then set targets about your people.
  5. Make sure management is  clear about the expectations of them. More importantly be clear you know what you expect of them.  If you shift the goalposts, involve them in the decision.
  6. If you employ specialists or professionals, value your managers as much as, if not more than your specialist or professional contribution.  (Yes really)
  7. Give your manager’s credit for the difficult and dedicated job they do.  Their jobs are highly skilled professional roles, and you should acknowledge that.

In life there are people who work well and people who don’t do so well, and this is reflected at all roles in an organisation, there are poor CEO’s, all the way down the hierarchal chain to poor Administrators;  as well as poor managers.

I believe that the reason for the focus on underperforming management is because they are such a pivotal and impactful force in an organisation.  So let’s raise the standards of our managers and have better businesses, but also give credit when managers are doing a great job and value them.

I hope you enjoyed my small but heartfelt accolade to the manager.  What do you think?  Do you agree?  Why do you think management are getting such a poor press?  I’d love to have your views.

If you are a leader, you are continually developing and "Sharpening the Saw".  If you lead and manage teams, then you must read about our Inspirational New Leadership Programme.  Sign up now to find out more details when we launch in July 2014.  There is no obligation to undertake the programme, if you sign up today, you will simply be sent more information about the programme.  You can unsubscribe at any time!  Click below to register for further information.

   
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Burying the Hatchet on Work Place Disputes

  By Christina Lattimer • October 31, 2013 - 2:46 pm

Disputes Disputes at work cost us much more than loss of productivity

As we speak I have placed myself at the centre of a dispute. Now for me this is quite a big deal because quite frankly I am against being in dispute per se. The details of the dispute are immaterial because all it really boils down to is that the other person I am in dispute with simply sees things differently to me, and they are trying to foist their perspective on me. (Conversely, I’m at it too!).

Because I know that disputes are futile egotistical diversions, which waste a lot of time and energy I usually avoid them like the plague.  That’s not to say I don’t feel strongly about certain issues, and I abhor it when my values are being dishonoured, it’s simply that I know enough to realise that everyone is entitled to their opinion.  Also life is simply too short to become embroiled.

The thing is with disputes though; it is usually when someone else’s rules, opinions or behaviours impinge on our own personal boundaries that we can no longer turn a blind eye.

Some of the facts

At work in the UK, around were recorded in 2012/13. The introduction of payment of a fee to lodge an employment dispute to a tribunal which was introduced in July 2013, has many HR professionals and employment lawyers waiting with baited breath to see if there is a sharp downfall in claims as a result. The most recent released by the UK Government are pretty inconclusive and the trends have certainly not been established.

But whether or not the payment of a fee helps to direct the minds of claimants whose disputes may be dubious is really a bit of a red herring. The emergence of an application to an employment tribunal is quite often the end result of a long and arduous route whereby somewhere along the line, parties to the dispute have failed to find a solution, or a meeting of minds.

Workplace conflict is extremely costly; in a , it was found that resolving conflict took up, on average, one day per month for each and every worker. If you start doing the math, then you realise that the cost to businesses is pretty huge. But even then, as we all know; disputes at work have a ripple effect. Not only do they take precious time to resolve, they can create an awful atmosphere, absence from work, knotty HR issues while disputes are being solved and simply drag down the business.

Why disputes occur

There are many reasons why disputes occur, but some of the common dynamics present are;  roles of victim and victimiser, a sense of unfairness or injustice, a need to be right and the other wrong and sometimes a need to be better than or indignation at being seen as less than.

Some of the causes of disputes arise from:

  1. Rules imposed by one party have been broken by the other, but the other doesn’t agree on the rules in the first place.
  2. There is a disagreement on the facts
  3. One person is being seen as having an unfair advantage over another
  4. A person’s behaviour is,  or is seen as, unacceptable
  5. Decisions are made which don’t consider the person or their circumstances
  6. There is a personality clash
  7. Inadequate communication exists.

I’m sure there are many more, but in my experience many disputes are contained within those seven causes.

Because we are all so unique and our perspectives are so very different, conflict resolution management is not really a huge success, as can be seen by the number of disputes which have reached employment tribunal.  In fact many companies might argue that the most important HR Expertise  is being able to minimise the effects of disputes in the workplace.

A different mind set

There is no magic wand unfortunately. Human behaviour doesn’t transform instantly. A change of mind is needed, and this is not just in the workplace, but at home, in politics, in global leadership. The following mind-set shifts would produce a significant change in unhealthy disputes which simply squash the spirit, waste time and stunt creativity and innovation.  Creating dynamics of equal value, a goal of harmonious working (healthy conflict is allowed!), and respect of boundaries and understanding each other.

These can translate into possible actions such as:

  1.  Helping people who feel victimised to access their inner strength and honour themselves.
  2.  Creating a common purpose and vision when setting rules and boundaries, and when others can’t or don’t meet them, helping them as much as possible to do so.
  3. Allowing people to make an occasional mistake.
  4. Treating everyone with equal value as a person
  5.  Involving and honouring everyone when instigating change
  6. Being aware of and acknowledging when decisions are made they may have a negative impact on others and finding ways to help people when that is the case.
  7. Raising awareness of how we operate as human beings, and our impact on others.
  8. Creating congruent communication, where different styles are respected and used.

The funny thing is, when I began to get into my current dispute, a big part of me was saying, just surrender, don’t go down that route, let it go!  But my rebel sense of indignation and rightness won over. Well for a short time anyway. I think though, it might just be time to bury the hatchet!

If you are a leader, you are continually developing and "Sharpening the Saw".  If you lead and manage teams, then you must read about our Inspirational New Leadership Programme.  Sign up now to find out more details when we launch in July 2014.  There is no obligation to undertake the programme, if you sign up today, you will simply be sent more information about the programme.  You can unsubscribe at any time!  Click below to register for further information.

   
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Performance Appraisals, Judge And BE Judged

  By Christina Lattimer • July 26, 2013 - 10:19 pm
Tasneem Hameed writes about the pitfalls of Performance Appraisals for The Extra MILE E-zine.

“When you judge another, you do not define them, you define yourself”- Wayne Dyer
To judge someone is a very difficult task. Even God who is almighty fixed a criterion for judging people, i.e. good deeds and bad deeds for reward and punishment. As their mind developed, humans too accepted its value for better control and they adopted it happily. When organizations came in to being, its application increased further because of its acceptance as the best way to manage people, and performance appraisal was the outcome. The modern performance appraisal systems go beyond rewarding the good deeds, i.e. good work, performance or efficiency and effectiveness of employees through money and use it also for development of employees.  In addition to direct fixed compensation and bonuses employees get rewards of promotion and career paths. The punishment side comprises of withholding of increment, warning letter or even termination.

Blue Eyes And Bad books
Performance appraisals are not only one of the most critical management processes, but also the most controversial. Judging and rewarding people being a sensitive matter no one can deny its importance. It is difficult to find an employee who thinks or admits that his/her work performance was bad or not up to the mark. Although new methods are being continuously explored and implemented, but there is always a feeling of justice not being done according to most of the employees who don’t get expected outcome from their performance appraisals. As the manager/supervisor of an employee has the most important role in the performance appraisal, he mostly has to bear the brunt of criticism. The most common complaint has been that of personal bias, both positive and negative, i.e. favoritism or dislike. For some employees good appraisal indicates that the appraised is a blue- eyed employee while the employee who does not get good ranking in the appraisal is in the bad books of the appraiser.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Posted by Christina Lattimer

If you are a leader, you are continually developing and "Sharpening the Saw".  If you lead and manage teams, then you must read about our Inspirational New Leadership Programme.  Sign up now to find out more details when we launch in July 2014.  There is no obligation to undertake the programme, if you sign up today, you will simply be sent more information about the programme.  You can unsubscribe at any time!  Click below to register for further information.

   
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7 Ways to Get It Right And Give Management The Credit They Deserve

  By christinapd • May 17, 2012 - 7:55 pm

A Management role is a multi-talented one!

manager I have read so many negative reports about management over the last few months that I felt I had to stand up and hurl in a different perspective.   In the past few months, I’ve read quotes such as:

  • “three quarters of employers report a lack of leadership and management skills and too many managers have an inflated opinion of their ability to manage people”
  • “More than six out of ten people employed in customer facing sales and service roles say that their managers’ behaviour towards them [Negatively] affects the level of customer service they deliver.”
  • “Poor people management is at the root of much of the evil in our economy”
  • “Estimated cost of poor management in the UK is £19 Billion a year!”

What on earth is going on?  If I were still a manager I think I’d be feeling pretty battered by now.  So ok we have a problem Houston.  But what is the real problem?

For me, problem number one, is that although we all know the difference between leadership and management (Don’t we?)   We employ managers and complain they don’t lead and then we define leadership with models which talk about competencies such as leading from the front, vision and courage and integrity… to name but a few.  Attributes most managers can’t actually use because they have to deliver an already created and articulated vision, where the trail has already been blazed, and the values already decided.

We want managers to be people managers, but actually none of our outcomes or targets or values is about our people, so where do we expect them to focus?  Ok, so I’m stretching a point, or two, but I do think that those points illustrate that at times, just sometimes, managers can’t win.

I’m not going to get into the leadership debate in this blog; I’ll save that for another day.  Today, I am going to concentrate on the sometimes thankless task of being a manager and why I think our good managers need a big and hearty pat on the back.

And just a final observation about the bad press managers get.  With all the “poor” managers out there, I just have three questions.  Who is recruiting them?  Who is managing them? And who is letting poor managers get away with it to the extent that they have such a “negative” impact?  Well, someone is!

There was an advert a few years ago that featured a mother wearing different hats.  When her little girl cut her knee, she had the nurse cap on.  When she was helping her son with his homework, she donned the mortarboard, and finally when cooking dinner she wore her chef’s hat. (I know, I’m probably showing my age) Well for me, managers are like mothers, to the extent that they have many roles and have to wear many hats.

In most organisations, managers are multi-faceted.  They have to manage their people, their budget, their results locally and globally, the environment they work in, change management, training needs, absence, performance, initiatives, projects, the business plan, the people plan, stakeholders, partners, customers, reward, reviews, income, communications, processes, media, social responsibility, diversity,…….oh and of course the work. Need I go on?

I know that there are some great qualifications for managers and also managers pay is probably not too bad.  But what I do think is that managers are not given the actual credit for the demanding, time-consuming, multi-talented role they have to play in an organisations’ success.  It may have simply slipped my attention,  but I have honestly never heard an organisation come out and say things like “we owe our success to our multi-talented managers”  Or “the real backbone of the organisation is held together by our highly skilled managers”  High profile leaders tend to get the credit for great successes.

So how do we go about changing the image of our managers, and giving those good ones the credit that they are due?  Well here are my thoughts:

  1. Be clear about the limit of the leadership role the manager.  If a manager is an executor of an organisational vision, then specify that they have to have a team vision, which derives from the main vision.   They don’t have to be able to change the world.
  2. At recruitment stage, be clear about why you need the manager.  If their prime focus is people management, then make sure they have people management skills.  If you want a people manager and the successful candidate has written a great thesis on your range of products and the best way to sell them, then you are on the wrong tack.
  3. Develop potential within the organisation, with brilliant role models and clear demonstrations of the skills, behaviours and standards expected.
  4. If your organisation only has aims and targets based on product or service, then that’s where your managers will place their attention.  If you want them to manage your people, then set targets about your people.
  5. Make sure management is  clear about the expectations of them. More importantly be clear you know what you expect of them.  If you shift the goalposts, involve them in the decision.
  6. If you employ specialists or professionals, value your managers as much as, if not more than your specialist or professional contribution.  (Yes really)
  7. Give your manager’s credit for the difficult and dedicated job they do.  Their jobs are highly skilled professional roles, and you should acknowledge that.

In life there are people who work well and people who don’t do so well, and this is reflected at all roles in an organisation, there are poor CEO’s, all the way down the hierarchal chain to poor Administrators;  as well as poor managers.

I believe that the reason for the focus on underperforming management is because they are such a pivotal and impactful force in an organisation.  So let’s raise the standards of our managers and have better businesses, but also give credit when managers are doing a great job and value them.

I hope you enjoyed my small but heartfelt accolade to the manager.  What do you think?  Do you agree?  Why do you think management are getting such a poor press?  I’d love to have your views.

If you are a leader, you are continually developing and "Sharpening the Saw".  If you lead and manage teams, then you must read about our Inspirational New Leadership Programme.  Sign up now to find out more details when we launch in July 2014.  There is no obligation to undertake the programme, if you sign up today, you will simply be sent more information about the programme.  You can unsubscribe at any time!  Click below to register for further information.

   
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Getting the Performance Management Equation Right

  By Christina Lattimer • May 3, 2012 - 11:51 am
Performance Management is an Art!

If you want to be cutting edge you need to measure your results and performance manage your team.

Getting the best out your people can sometimes be a stressful business. In my many years of managing and subsequently as an HR professional, one of the biggest barriers to great performance management is that people have different perceptions of what performance management is about.

Even terminology around performance management can be misconstrued. For a business to succeed you need to make sure that when planning, developing and communicating your performance framework you get it right.  Your performance framework sits underneath your overall  organisational purpose and mission.  It is not the end result: a performance framework is the  examination and monitoring of the factors which will make you profitable, or successful;  or not.

Businesses who get their performance framework right have a huge advantage. I know of some organisations who don’t actually have a performance framework in place, and frankly they are missing a trick.  Because performance can contain a myriad of factors; the first hurdle is to decide on the unique framework for your business.

Measuring and managing performance are two different processes. They are frequently confused. Depending on style and culture of an organisation, these two simple elements can be approached in different ways. A good organisation will have no doubt at all about all of the elements of their performance measurement and their performance management regimes.

Performance Measurement

There are six basic equations: These are:

  • Productivity. – You can measure productivity individually or by team. Basically this measurement is about the quantity being produced in a given time. You can measure productivity across most outcome based processes, which could be a product, a service or an administrative task.
  • Performance. – This measurement is a little more sophisticated. It is the measurement of productivity for all of your team. It will include the team members who are perhaps not involved in the productive process. For example, managers or specialist advisors. The purpose is to see how effective the structure of the organisation is against outcomes.
  • Effectiveness – This is about throughput. Or in other words the length of time it takes to reach an outcome. Effectiveness links to productivity, and encourages businesses to examine the process to see if better results/profits can be achieved, or if customer expectations are met.
  • Efficiency – This is about the cost of the outcome. You can have great productivity and effectiveness, but if profit margins are too low, then you have to understand this.
  • Standards: The standards that you set. These can include for example standards about quality, quantity, impact or timing.
  • Service: – The impact made on your customer. You may have service level agreements or targeted customer satisfaction levels. The way you measure impact on your customer must be relevant and result in your business improving and increasing positive impacts.

The six components all work best when they work in a balanced scorecard framework comparing each equation against each other. So for example, you might be the most efficient team, but if your customers aren’t happy then that could affect profits. Likewise if your productivity is top end, but your costs are high then you haven’t got the right balance.

Performance measurements can be introduced at organisational or team level. They can include outcomes, targets and results, both quantitative and qualitative.

Once you have decided on the most impactful performance measurements, then your next task is to have a sound framework of performance management. This is the golden thread that runs throughout your business, and links your outcomes, standards and processes to your people and how well they perform.

Performance Management

Performance management is all about how your individual employees work. What makes performance management different from performance measurement is that it is about individual contribution. Performance Measurement is about the collective organisational and team results of individual contribution. It is a subtle distinction.

Obviously the elements of performance that you decide to manage should link into the measurements on your balanced scorecard;  but they are about the specific elements of that person’s job, and ability to do that job. So for example, the performance requirements of an office junior will be very different from an MD. For that reason it is essential that your business has the right job roles to get the right results!

The elements of individual performance can vary greatly. A way to keep this simple is to break down the components of what an individual needs to bring to the party to help your business be successful. The four most common components are:

  • Capability – This includes, knowledge, skills, competence any specialist knowledge as well as physical ability to do the work.
  • Impact – This is about individual objectives productivity, efficiency, effectiveness in relation to their specific job, their team and the organisational results.
  • Behaviour – This can be about attitude, buy in or engagement, contribution to the desired culture and values of your business.
  • Talent – this can be about how the contribution and potential of the employee impacts or can benefit the organisation. It can be about suitability for progression either across or up the organisational career path.

A good business will have aligned the overall desired measurements or results, with the elements of managed performance. I have seen literally hundreds of performance frameworks, and if you are intending to or in the throes of developing a performance framework, I would contend that there are only two rules:

1. Keep it simple. If your 13 year old can’t understand it, then it won’t work
2. Make it relevant. If the golden thread, connection or link isn’t made, then it won’t work.

What do you think? Do you have a great performance management system? Have you different views or essential elements you would include?

Performance Management

If you are a leader, you are continually developing and "Sharpening the Saw".  If you lead and manage teams, then you must read about our Inspirational New Leadership Programme.  Sign up now to find out more details when we launch in July 2014.  There is no obligation to undertake the programme, if you sign up today, you will simply be sent more information about the programme.  You can unsubscribe at any time!  Click below to register for further information.