Keys to Great Managers

Today, Aug 2005 by Friesen, Wes

Are you dealing "ACE's"?

Being in a management role is a great privilege - but it can also be a great challenge. Effective management does not happen by accident. Fortunately, we don't have to stumble in the dark about what the top managers do we have research that can shed light for us.

Trying to improve our management capabilities is important to the success of our organizations. As most hiring managers know, the number one challenge facing organizations is the ability to attract and retain talented employees. This is becoming more challenging due to changing demographics. The reality is that the large baby boomer generation is reaching the age where many are starting to retire. In fact, the Department of Labor predicts a shortfall of 15 million workers by the year 2010.

How do organizations succeed at attracting and retaining the talent they need to prosper? Talented employees want and need great managers. How long employees stay and how productive they are is primarily determined by the relationship with their immediate supervisor. The number one reason why talented people leave is because they had a poor relationship with their boss.

Becoming a Better Manager

The Gallup organization has been engaged in employee and management research for over 25 years, and has collected information from over one million employees and interviewed thousands of managers. Their studies have revealed what the world's top performing managers do - and it boils down to four major activities.

Four Key Activities of Great Managers

* Picking people - select for talent

* Set expectations - define the right outcomes

* Motivate people - focus on strengths

* Develop people - find the right fit

Picking People: Select for Talent

The first key activity involves picking people well, focused around their talents. Talent has been defined as the "recurring pattern of thought, feeling, or behavior that can be productively applied". Skills can be learned, knowledge can be gained, buttaient is more "hard wired" and tougher to teach.

One approach in looking for talented people for our teams is to only hire "ACEs". ACE is an acrostic where the "A" stands for Attitude. Look for people that have a positive attitude and that are committed, teachable and care for people.

"C" stands for character. Does character count? As an employee of a company that has been owned by Enron, I would say an emphatic "yes!". Look for people that exhibit integrity, honesty and are trustworthy.

"E" stands for enthusiasm. Is apathy and cynicism contagious? Yes! Is enthusiasm contagious? Yes! What makes for stronger and more productive teams? If you hire ACEs for your team (and help existing employees develop into ACEs) - your team will be successful.

Set Expectations: Define the Right Outcomes

The second key is to set expectations, which is to define the right outcomes. Great managers focus their people toward performance by defining the right outcomes. How do you define the right outcomes? The 360-degree approach is one strategy. Find out where your boss and the senior management want the organization to go then determine how your team can help them get there. Coordinate with your peers and find ways to partner. Solicit participation from your team members - their participation leads to their buy-in and better quality decisions.

Once the right outcomes are defined, great managers then let each person find his own route toward the outcomes, within specified parameters. Great managers don't micro-manage. But they do define steps to ensure quality, safety and compliance with corporate policies and applicable laws.

Great managers are aware of the concept of "stakeholder symmetry." Stakeholder symmetry recognizes that an organization has multiple stakeholders (e.g. investors, customers, employees, suppliers, community). The organization should try to add value to each stakeholder, and maintain a reasonable balance between their competing interests.

Motivate People: Focus on Strengths

The third key is to motivate people, in part by focusing on each person's strengths. Great managers focus and use people's strengths, and manage around their weaknesses. Avoid the tendency to try to "fix" people. Instead, do everything you can to help each person cultivate his talents and become more of what he already is.

Develop People: Find the Right Fit

The final key is to develop people, by helping find the right fit. Great managers steer employees toward roles where the employee has the greatest chance of success. Jim Collin's book, "Good to Great", chronicles an intensive research effort that identified and analyzed the nation's top long-term performing companies. One of the characteristics of these exceptional performing companies was that they "got the right people on the bus, and the wrong people off it". In other words, the very top performing companies find the right people for the right roles, then let these people determine strategy and use their talents.

Once you have determined that you have an employee that is a good fit for your team, then there are some practical tools that can help you in the development process. Tools include cross-training, attendance at conferences, reading of trade journals, involvement in trade organizations like TAWPI, university courses, local seminars the list goes on.