Successful Management Development Programs deliver Strategic and People Management Skills

The skills needed by managers in successful organisations are those that will enable them to manage people, to build constructive relationships with their fellow managers and strategic partners and to think and act strategically. Over the years, I have worked in a lot of organisations and have seen many managers at work; some have these skills, others do not. This paper compares them. Development of People Management Skills Motivation and leadership skills are essential for effective staff management. Managers’ ability to motivate staff comes from their power to administer rewards and punishment. Poor managers tend to place an over-reliance on punishment to get results. This can create more problems than it solves. For example, I have seen managers use their power to suspend staff from duties as a punishment for absenteeism. Irresponsible employees saw this as a positive hoot, giving them an opportunity for yet another day off. Good managers, on the other hand, are not afraid of using punishment, but have also learnt to use rewards to motivate their staff – by recognising individual needs, by redesigning their jobs or by setting challenging goals. The absence of leadership skills impacts very differently in different situations. Some managers see leadership as nothing more than barking orders. They usually get compliance, but at the expense of disempowered employees (and often lost productivity). Others go to the other extreme and delegate to the point of abnegation of their own responsibility. For example, one manager I worked with defied his own manager rather than insist that a group of his employees change their work practices to suit the organisation’s new strategy. As a result, this group soon made themselves redundant while his more competent staff left the organisation in disgust. Good leaders understand when it is appropriate to delegate, and by how much. They lead change by example; modelling the new behaviours that they expect of their staff. Relationship Building Skills Possibly the most difficult task for change-ready managers is to build constructive relationships with their fellow managers, suppliers and customers. Many people are promoted into management because they have been successful as a professional specialist (eg. a lawyer, accountant or engineer). In this role, they have often worked in isolation, had considerable autonomy and were generally left alone to focus on their task. As a result, they develop their own jargon and tend to devalue other management functions - such as marketing, or human resources. Life as a manager could not be more different. Each day brings a stream of interruptions and the continuing need to negotiate (or compete for resources) with other managers. The good managers are prepared to accept that their professional expertise is only one of many critical competencies that will ensure business success. They quickly pick up the skills needed to communicate with their peers, customers and suppliers and to contribute as equal (not superior) team members. By contrast, the poor managers adopt a bunker mentality, locking themselves in their office so that they can get some ‘real work’ done. Consequently, they are often excluded from critical discussions to the detriment of the function they manage, their staff and their own careers. Development of Strategic Management Skills Another requirement of the change-ready manager is the ability to make strategic decisions. Managers spend much of their time making (or contributing to) decisions regarding the projects that their team will work on and the clients and stakeholders that they will serve. Strategic decision-making requires an ability to step back and see the big picture. Some managers find this very difficult, if not impossible, to achieve. As a result, they tend to ‘micro-manage’ their staff, getting so lost in operational details that they completely lose sight of the big picture. For example, one Production Manager I knew insisted on personally signing every purchase order despite the fact that his direct reports were conscientious, highly qualified people. At the same time, he was blissfully unaware of an emerging industrial relations situation that almost totally destroyed the company. The good news for aspiring managers is that all these skills can be learnt. Once learnt, they should be regularly practiced until they are applied automatically. Development of People Management Skills Relationship Building Skills Development of Strategic Management Skills For further assistance visit Change & Perform's Management Development Services or contact the principal Kerry Feldman