The Advantage

April 2003

Hitting the Ground Running: Considering Early Management Integration

The Management Challenge

Most large organizations invest a great deal of time and effort into recruiting and selecting the best managers possible. This means, often, one of two things: First, it can mean recruiting and hiring experienced managers from outside the organization or transferring existing managers within the organization. It can also mean promoting high-performing individual contributors to the ranks of management. Regardless of the process, the transition comes with a unique set of challenges that any organization must face. The challenge, put simply, is how best to bring these "new managers" up to speed as quickly and efficiently as possible while not overwhelming them.

In an effort to better understand and support managers in their new role, we conducted a series of semi-structured interviews with managers, both new and experienced, from various sectors of a large health care provider. What we found might surprise you. Our goal in sharing our findings is to provoke consideration of (similar) new manager challenges within other organizations.

The Key Challenges

Our findings fall into five broad categories. These points highlight key areas or challenges that new managers face during their transition – typically lasting the first year.

Big Picture. Not surprisingly, one of the key challenges facing new mangers is having a clear understanding of organizational information. Nearly all of the managers interviewed expressed the need to see the overall or ‘Big Picture’. This included having a clear understanding of the organization’s goals, vision, and values and how their particular unit contributes and fits within this broader framework. Moreover, questions of this type often faced by managers during their transition include "How does my unit balanced scorecard fit with these broader goals?", "Whom do I contact for certain types of information?", or "What is the role of unions in our organization", for example.

Key Players. An important element in any organization, just over half the managers highlighted the need to connect with ‘key players’ in the organization. This includes key union representatives, executives, information providers, and individual manager counterparts within the organization.

Community of Practice. Again, nearly all of the managers interviewed highlighted the need to establish a community of practice (i.e., informational or support network) within the organization. In essence, this means feeling a sense of belongingness with other units in the organization as well as the broader community. Clearly, this sentiment is closely tied with the notion of greater integration and communication, either formal or informal, among managers. Interviewees also expanded this point, however, to include the practice of mentorship within the organization. This might include establishing a network of new and experienced managers, or pairing managers with one another or certain directors or both.

Skill Sets. What about the individual skills that managers see as being important during their ramp-up in the management role? Interviewees had lots of ideas on the topic and their comments fell into two broad (non-exhaustive) categories:

I. ‘Soft’ Skills. These include interpersonal skills such as the ability to network across units, communication skills, conflict resolution skills, the ability to manage change effectively, the ability to effectively manage staff performance, achieving a healthy work-life balance, being a good work role model, encouraging creativity in your staff, being able to make decisions that aren’t necessarily popular with everyone, having a positive sense of humor and the ability to effectively foster teamwork and collaboration.

II. ‘Hard’ Skills. These include management-related job knowledge and skills such as having a clear understanding of the managerial role, knowing how to budget and finance effectively, operational HR skills such as recruiting, interviewing, conducing performance appraisals and dealing with grievances. Managers also expressed the need to clearly understand union contracts, how to schedule, present effectively, manage their time effectively, as well as how to manage projects effectively, understand individual staff roles and responsibilities clearly and know how to use any relevant software systems. These so-called ‘hard’ skills are in addition to any profession-specific core competencies (e.g., as might be the case with engineers or nurses).

Organizational Support. Finally, managers almost unanimously highlighted the role that directors (i.e., their immediate supervisors) play in the success of their transition. That is, the need for a supportive and developmental director emerged as the single most important organizational factor determining new manager success. Managers highlighted the need for their director to be approachable, cognizant of their workload, and willing to jump-start their networking process (e.g., making introductions to key players and other managers/directors in the organization). Many of the managers interviewed also outlined the more specific need for directors to sit down with managers and (together) formulate individual development or action plans to which the managers are then held accountable.

Clearly, managers pointed to directors as a primary source of support during their ramp-up in the new role. It was also apparent, however, that managers also leveraged a number of other organizational resources and factors in their transition. This included: 1. Effectively leveraging the skills of their staff, 2. Harnessing the openness of their staff to using new technology and processes, 3. Making full use of the IT support group whenever possible, and 4. Taking advantage of any workshops, programs or other sources of information offered by the organization.

So what does all this mean for new managers? In the end, successful managers recall taking ownership over and maintaining stewardship of their own needs during their transition. Many of the managers were proactive in jump-starting their own networking with other managers and staff, approached directors on their own with regard to their developmental needs and enrolled in one or more of the workshops offered to managers in the organization.

It also highlights the continued need for organizations to offer flexible and tailored programs to both new and experienced managers. Indeed, many of the experienced managers we interviewed felt it important to include the fact that they, too, could benefit from having a better understanding of the kinds of information and skills highlighted here.

Thus, it is important that, as an organization, we not underestimate the unique challenges facing new managers and, moreover, continue to work together to help ensure their success. Besides being pivotal assets to the organization, as one interviewee put it, "New managers, like staff at all levels, are among the organizations most valuable ambassadors." As such, organizations need to arm them with the right information, skills and support necessary to ensure a smooth and successful transition.

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Wayne E. Ormond, M.Sc., is Senior OD Consultant for Learning & Development at Calgary Health Region. He can be reached at Wayne.Ormond@CalgaryHealthRegion.ca

Employee Motivation Problems: Involvement is the Solution

Almost every business owner and manager has asked the question, "How do I motivate my workers?" Their reasons for asking range from experiencing high waste due to carelessness, absence and illness rates that are costing too much, lethargic attitudes, poor customer service … and the list goes on.

It is interesting that managers focus on their employees as the problem. Human nature suggests that such a focus is to be expected. We are always more comfortable when we are in control. We are always more comfortable when we can define the problem as belonging to someone else. We are never comfortable if the problem is identified as being "us." When was the last time you analyzed a problem and said to yourself, "I’m the problem?"

Nearly all business problems result from management: Management approach, management style, management decisions, management reactions. Because it is uncomfortable to think about changing our own approach or style, we managers prefer looking to our employees as the reasons for our business problems. Changing our management style is a lot like the process involved with going on a diet or making a commitment to stop smoking. Basic human habits exist because they allow us to feel comfortable. Changing them takes away the comfort very quickly. Comfort returns, however, when we settle into a new habit pattern. It’s the transition that seems so painful.

Clients have often asked me to give them the secret to motivating their employees, much like asking their doctor to prescribe a pill that will cure their illness. It has to be easy to take, inexpensive, quick to provide relief, and long lasting or it will not be viewed as an acceptable remedy. My response in each case is always to tell them the secret of solving any motivation problem: INVOLVEMENT.

Every behavioral scientist, including Herzberg, Blake, Gramlich, McGregor, and Odiorne, have suggested reasons for employee behavior and how to change it. Each of their theories has value. Each of the studies done is validated. Yet, each only represents one piece in the picture puzzle. Standing alone, one piece doesn’t let us see the whole image. All the pieces have to come together properly for us to see the picture clearly. Put all these studies and theories together and boil them down to a concentrated dose of motivation remedy and you find: INVOLVEMENT.

We know that "telling" and "ordering" employees to do things is generally an unsuccessful way to motivate them. Neither, in the other extreme, is it a good idea to walk away and abandon the business to whims of employees. Something between those two extremes must be appropriate.

Try this. If you haven’t used this approach before, it will feel strange to you. It will make you feel uncomfortable. Brace yourself for the change of old habits. Know that you will feel comfortable again when this new approach becomes your habit, and your business will improve in the bargain. Step-by-step, make a commitment to yourself to try. Honestly, give yourself enough time to find out if this prescription will cure the disease which you find infecting your business.

1. Management Commitment - Promise yourself that you will use these steps for at least several months. Keep your promise.

2. Use Employee Resources - Invite your employees (some or all) to participate in a discussion about one of your business problems. Lead the group by outlining the problem and ask for their suggestions about possible solutions. Then, be quiet. Write down their ideas. Next, take each one and have the group help analyze it to determine if it might be practical. Lastly, ask the group to tell you its recommendation for which solution to implement. You are the boss, you get to decide, but listen to them. Even if you aren’t sure it will work, risk the experiment if you possibly can. Your employees will go to extraordinary lengths to make "their" solution work. Because they are part of the process they will feel some ownership of both the business problem and its correction. They will feel INVOLVED.

3. Give Feedback - Most problems can’t be solved over night. Usually, it takes a while to determine the amount of success your solution will generate. As you collect the evidence, share it. Good or bad. Let your "team" know what their solution has produced, in business terms.

4. Try It Again - Next time, try the process using different employees if possible. Get everyone involved eventually. Watch for measurable signs of increased employee motivation: lower absence rates, less material waste, better punctuality, more favorable customer responses.

And, if you are the kind of individual who feels better when given help in keeping to a diet, ask for some support from an outsider during your attempt to change old habits. As is often the case, a short term investment can produce long range benefits many times the original cost.

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William H. Truesdell, SPHR is a specialist in EEO/AA and author of several books including Easy Employee Supervision. He can be reached at billt@hrwebstore.com

Team Building: The Old Fashioned Way

At small, one-manager companies, the boss generally has direct control over all that transpires. That control is eroded as a company grows. Growth brings complexity of problems and diversity of functions. Communication, once a matter of remembering to tell one person, becomes more elaborate. The boss becomes more removed from the details of production and must increasingly depend on the knowledge, experience, and abilities of individual employees or work groups. Suddenly, teamwork becomes more important in the decision making process.

There is a basic flaw in our modern proclamation of support for team efforts in American businesses, however. We talk about "All for one and one for all" and "We’re all in this together," but … we reward individual performance … not team results. That is, our leaderhip efforts to induce team action generally fail because we give recognition and financial rewards to individuals for their singular performance when we should be rewarding the teams instead. It all goes to the bottom line … WHATEVER GETS REWARDED, GETS DONE.

If you feel you would like to move your company from autocratic toward team-oriented management, you have an exciting and difficult task ahead. As the boss, you will likely need to “unlearn” some long-standing management concepts. You may find the transition is very uncomfortable, because you are traversing new management ground. Employees may be uncomfortable as well. Productivity will most certainly take a downward swing because of that uncertainty. Like the Navy pilot taking off from a carrier, it takes some amount of time for the plane to climb after it settles below the launch deck initially. If you have a good transition plan, and allow yourself to feel uncomfortable for that time, you will be able to see the productivity results climb like the Navy plane. Your potential for improving results is far greater when using effective team management techniques. How can you miss with everyone in the business supporting each action taken?

For a successful team-building program, you will generally need to emphasize:

• Communication - Managers must constantly think about communications and use active listening and open-ended questioning. Employees will quickly sense whether the stated commitment to widespread participation is real or "just another experiment that will soon pass." Communication skills should be the focus of management training, employee orientation, and team meetings. Every opportunity to improve those skills should be sought out and used.

• Planning - While planning was important when only one person was involved in decision making, it becomes critical in a team-building configuration. Teamwork will not succeed without good planning. Participants must clearly understand the purpose of their activities and how their objectives are defined. Equally important is clarifying each person’s role in the team. Misunderstandings arise from expectations formed on assumptions. Asking for replay of each person’s understanding is a good technique for assuring all are on the same track.

• Leadership - Team leaders must be able to guide discussions, set priorities, promote business, coordinate activities, and encourage frankness and candor while maintaining positive interpersonal relationships. They are also key to stimulating creative solutions for problems the team must resolve. Bringing a group to consensus about solutions means the group will provide its support to implementing the solutions.

• Incentives - Remember, whatever gets rewarded, gets done. If team management is to be effective, there must be some reward to team members for team successes. Individuals must feel they are receiving rewards in relation to how they view their contributions to the team. Incentives can be performance-based group programs, special recognition of teams and members, or even added job security. Whatever reward is chosen, it should apply to the entire team and not single out one or two members for special recognition. Test your thoughts about incentives against the question: "What is it I will reinforce by giving this reward?"

Is it worth the trouble? For these companies it was:

• Volvo – At Kalmar, Sweden plant, defects and labor costs dropped 40% between 1977 and 1989 after transition to work teams.

• Rohm & Hass Co. – At their plexiglass plant in West Virginia, productivity increased 60% in four years after changing to work teams.

• NUMMI – GM-Toyota joint venture in Fremont, California has HALF the labor cost per car of other GM plants.

• Kodak – Canadian operation reduced costs by 75% and decreased defects per copier machine by a factor of 100.

• Goodyear – Lawton, Oklahoma plant reports worker attendance at 99.1%, highest in the Goodyear system … and the same plant produces twice the number of tires for a typical (non-team) plant.

There is much to be said for effective application of work-team concepts. It can be fun. It can be stimulating. It can be financially rewarding.

Like anything else worth doing, it should only be done at all if you are willing to do it well. If you are not sincere about your team building effort or hold some reservations, thinking you can back out at some point in the process, you should probably not begin the process at all. Getting employees excited about the process can be very positive. It can also be disastrous if you only go part way before returning to the typical management approach.

Give it your attention in planning sessions. Ask your employees and other advisors for their input. If you decide to do some team-building in your company, we know you will find it stimulating and, most likely, very profitable as well.

Marketing: The Customer Service Connection

Why is it that new companies have such difficulty during their start-up period? Why do some well-established firms seem to falter, and some even fail, while they appear to be on the road to success? Track record with customers is often the reason. Reputation plays a dominant role in the marketing effort of any company.

Our government is even interested in the answers to such questions. A few years ago it commissioned a detailed study of customer service issues. Conducted by Technical Assistance Research Programs, Inc. (TARP), the study found that manufacturing organizations which go out of their way to encourage complaints and remedy them are usually rewarded.

Among TARP’s findings were:

• The average business never hears from 96 percent of its unhappy customers. Every complaint received indicates another 26 customers with problems, 6 of which are "serious."

• Complainers are more likely to do repeat business with the company that upset them than noncomplainers.

• Of those who register complaints, up to 70 percent will do business again with the organization if their complaint is resolved. If their complaint is handled quickly, the likelihood of repeat business from that customer jumps to 95 percent.

• Typically, customers who have had a problem with an organization tell 9 to 10 people about it. Over ten percent of the people with problems tell more than 20 people about the dissatisfying incident.

• Customers who have complained, and had their complaints satisfactorily resolved, tell an average of 5 people about how they were treated.

Clearly, the message for all of us is this: Pay attention to customer satisfaction, or your organization’s reputation will take on a negative cast. When that happens, it’s easy to anticipate what will happen to revenues.

Almost everywhere you look these days, someone seems to be talking about customer service. The reasons speak for themselves. We are in the decade of customer sensitivity. Customers are sophisticated enough to know they can get what they want from several sources. We are not the only provider of the products and services they need. If we don’t make them happy, they will go to another source that will. There is not much elasticity in "customer loyalty" after all.

Each time we have a contact with one of our customers, we have an opportunity to strengthen that relationship, or make it weaker. It all depends upon the customer’s perception of the treatment received from us.

How then, can we insure each of our customer contacts produces the kind of result we want? How can we manage our company’s reputation?

Three ingredients are required. A service strategy is foremost, and must be able to guide the attention of everyone in our company to understand the customer’s real priorities. It is a concept that details the value you offer your customers. We can sell "convenience," or "on-time performance," or "error-free product quality." Whatever we define as our service strategy, it offers people inside our company the focus they need to guide their own performance and decision making.

The second ingredient of a sound service organization is customer-oriented people. We need to train our employees in the skills of customer-oriented decision making. Every action we take must be judged by the question, "How will this action impact our service to the customer?"

Last of the three key ingredients is a set of systems in our company which are designed for the convenience of our customers, not for the convenience of our own organization. Think of systems as your policies, procedures, and methods as well as your physical production layout. Are they helping you meet your customer’s needs or are they getting in the way? The last thing we want is one of our people saying to a customer, "I’m sorry, but our policy won’t allow us to do that for you."

Customer service is the foundation of marketing today. Do you know how your customers view your business? If not, you might want to find out. Get some help if you don’t know how, but do it.

We all have our blind spots. One of them is usually how our customers view our business. Things "seem" OK. We don’t get complaints very frequently. Contracts are still coming in.

Those blind spots, however, can keep us from developing the programs we need to monitor customer opinion more closely. They can sometimes allow us to overlook an employee’s inflexibility or impolite response. Those blind spots can lead to a damaged company reputation. Remember the TARP study … 96 percent of your unhappy customers will not complain.

There is an inseparable connection between successful marketing and customer service.

Leadership Distance

Upon reading this title you probably jumped quickly to the perspective that this is about several possible things: how far you have to go to be one, distance between leaders and subordinates, skills needed by leaders, or perhaps a multitude of other perspectives. If you grabbed the first one you were pretty close! Before I delve into a discussion of Leadership Distance let me first attempt to set the stage for what leadership is or is not.

Leadership very simply put, is the art of having followers. One can get them a number of ways. Perhaps the easiest, and most common, is when one sees a parade and gets in front of it. At first blush this sounds somewhat ridiculous but how many times have you seen someone stand up and take credit for something that others have done? The second way is to be given the position of leadership, responsible for an organizational entity, its direction and results. Unfortunately, leadership has never been a position but rather a role. Consequently we have a person who may call himself a leader when in reality he may be, simply put, a manager. This is not to say that managers and management is bad, but one can be a successful manager and not be a leader. The third and best way to become a leader is to earn it, to gather your followers the old fashioned way, one person at a time. Leadership is the art of having followers, followers that have chosen to follow you. It is the ability to:

• Attract, develop and keep qualified people
• Create an environment supportive of personal and organizational growth
• Constantly strive for improvement in an ever changing environment
• Give people a reason to follow you.

Unfortunately many aspire to leadership believing that titles "make the man." These are the ones who are focused on what their boss wants and push diligently to accomplish everything their boss has thrown their way. The motive is likely to be wrapped around personal advancement and reward. These are very likely the "yes men" of the organization and we all know that everyone under them generally pays for their success, in more ways than one! Leadership is not a position, it is a way of fulfilling your responsibilities to set direction, give purpose, inspire followers, develop people and maybe even promote a few of them past you.

Leadership Distance is the distance between you and your followers, or perhaps those who may be in another organization but want to follow you or know that you may play a key role in their future assignments and opportunities. The question one asks is how much Leadership Distance should exist? The first response is generally that the distance should be very small, that there should be strong, candid and open communication between the leader and followers, generating a short distance. I propose that these are basic requirements for any leader and are necessary for having a long Leadership Distance. Having those attributes in your relationship with your followers is a precursor to a positive answer to the following two questions.

• Can this leader help me accomplish my goals and objectives?
• Will this leader help me accomplish my goals and objectives?

In other words, how far can or will this person help me advance? From this perspective one should want the distance to be as long as possible. If the answer to either of the questions is anything other than yes, the distance by default is small. There isn’t much difference in terms of the value you can add to your followers if you can’t or won’t help them. While we, as leaders, have a right and an obligation to be concerned about our own advancement, if that is our main priority, we may be in trouble. Dr. Demming used to adamantly oppose the setting of goals because he believed that one would do anything necessary to achieve them – sometimes at the expense of others and always at an expense to the organization. The concept of Leadership Distance causes us to focus on what am I willing to do or what can I do to inspire, challenge, push or pull others? It talks about my motivation and my competence. Being honest with the answers may be a great step towards our own growth and self-improvement and developing a genuine interest in others. This is not about altruism. This concept of Leadership Distance, rightly understood and applied, helps to grow and promote others and when your people are successful you cannot help but be. Leadership Distance requires you to know what your people can do, what they want to do, what are their goals and objectives, what price are they willing to pay to attain them– once you know this – you can answer the questions, too. Can you or will you help? Do you have the skills to take them further? If not, can you acquire them? Are there others you can turn to for help? What are you doing to invest in those who chose to follow you? Focusing on others creates an awareness of what our real responsibilities as leaders are. How much Leadership Distance do you have?

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Keith Byrd can be reached at keithbyrd@comcast.net

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