Are Your Managers Ready?

One of the emerging talent management themes is that one size does not fit all.   Strategic organizations tailor their rewards and practices to different segments of the population.

People are different.  They have different work styles.  They want different things at different times.  If your rewards strategy takes these things into account you’re already ahead of the pack. 

The catch is that managers manage people and managers are people, too. See where I’m going with this?

Let’s look at some potential workforce strategies and possible causes for disconnect between each strategy and your people managers:

• Higher increases for top performers: We can measure how much of the merit budget went to ‘top performers’ but managers are as biased and prone to self interest as anyone else. They have likes, dislikes and personal preferences when it comes to how people work. So, your metrics may tell you who's being rewarded but may not tell you what you're really paying for.

• Developing high potential employees: Let’s say you’ve identified a pool of high potential employees and gloss over all the potential issues with that.  Now what?  They still report to someone, unless you plan to reorganize them into a special high potential task force and bring in Donald Trump.  So now the question becomes, are your managers on board with your high potential strategy?  Do they have sufficient span of control to develop the hi pos in their care?  Are they effective delegators?  And most importantly, are they confident enough not to feel threatened by the situation?

• Team building: A good team builder is someone who helps bring the team closer together rather than creating a competitive or ‘clique’ environment.   One of the risks posed by a manager who is not an effective team builder is that people feel alienated or not included in the ‘inner circle.’  There is a social aspect to team building as well, which is often overlooked.  For example, I know several well-intentioned managers who would never think of taking their team to lunch, simply because it doesn't occur to them.

• Diversity: Studies have shown that diversity can have a positive impact on the bottom line.  Embracing diversity means more than just working with people from different cultures.  It means feeling comfortable with different communication and work styles.  While some managers are able to bring out the best in everyone, playing to people's strengths, others prefer everyone to work in the same way – which is perhaps more appropriate for the shop floor than for creative work.

• Work life balance: This is arguably a sub-point of diversity but it’s important enough to treat separately because it's the 'new black' in non-monetary rewards. Your company may have a fantastic work life balance policy but not every manager feels comfortable managing remote employees or people who work part-time or flexible hours.  Your work life balance strategy will only succeed if your managers are on board.

• Weeding out low performers: If headcount is tight there may be a conflict of interest when it comes to low performers. Line managers tend to think tactically rather than strategically and from a tactical perspective someone may be better than no one.

• Retaining high performers: Some managers feel threatened by high performers.  I’m just saying.

My point is that your manager strategy can’t be divorced from your overall workforce strategy.  At the receiving end of every strategy is a manager who will promote it or fail to promote it, based largely on their own management skills and perceived self interest.  So it’s important to bring the two strategies into alignment. 

Here are a few recommendations:

• Leadership and/or diversity training – Help managers get comfortable with delegation, different work styles and focusing on the fine art of management.

• Less hierarchy and more communication between management levels – If you only hear from your managers, you’ll only hear what your managers want you to hear.  Surveys and focus groups aren’t perfect vehicles for communication but they give people an opportunity to feel included.

• Look for potential ‘hot spots’ – Watch for possible red flags such as a newly minted manager leading a highly experienced team.  Different generational and/or cultural  work styles may present an opportunity for new levels of performance.

• Mentor new managers – There’s no substitute for personal experience but having someone provide constructive feedback can speed the process along. 

• Reward for career development – This is really important because no one wants to plot their own downfall. If you want your managers to willingly develop the people who report to them, career development needs to be a recognized and rewarded management activity. 

There’s no perfect strategy but there's a happier medium between unachievable perfection and hoping for the best.  Good management requires attention and investment like anything else. 

Also, it goes without saying that managers are not the only ones who can benefit from leadership and diversity training, or from being recognized as mentors. 

But that’s another topic.

Picture courtesy of IMDb.

Laura Schroeder is a Compensation Strategist at Workday, headquartered in Pleasanton, CA.  She has more than twelve years of experience designing, developing, implementing and evangelizing global Human Capital Management (HCM) solutions and is currently pursuing a certificate in Strategic Human Resources Practices at Cornell University.  Her articles and interviews on HCM topics have been published in the US, Europe and Asia.  She lives in Munich, Germany and enjoys cooking, reading, writing and spending time with friends and family.