Management Information |
Tales From the Corporate Frontlines: Managerial Influence
This article relates to the Manager/Supervisor competency, commonly evaluated in employee satisfaction surveys. This competency evaluates an employee's feelings regarding their direct manager or supervisor. The manager/supervisor competency covers topics like clarity of goals, manager support, coaching and feedback, and regular reviews of performance. The old adage that "people leave their managers, not organizations" is often true. Of all the workplace stressors, a bad immediate manager is one of the worst and will directly impact the emotional health, productivity, and retention of an employee. This competency can be especially insightful if your organization is losing quality employees while your compensation and benefit packages are equivalent with industry standards. This article, Managerial Influence, is part of AlphaMeasure's compilation, Tales from the Corporate Frontlines. This article tells the story of an HR department that diagnoses and deals with a managerial problem after recognizing its effects on the organization's employees. Anonymous Submission I recently accepted an HR Staff position at a prominent company in a nearby city. The job required relocation, but was well worth the move. I was very excited as I prepared to begin this new phase of my career. My first day on the job brought the usual orientation activities, followed by an important meeting. The entire department was deeply involved in collecting and organizing the results of a recent employee satisfaction survey that had been conducted online. Once the organization was complete, the results would be presented to upper management for analysis and action. "Hmmmm. There it is again," my manager mused several times during the course of the meeting. Later, I asked another coworker what she'd meant. "Just a bad situation involving the former manager of the purchasing department," she told me. Apparently, the manager of that department had recently been let go. This coworker seemed to relish telling me the story, so I let her continue. " We were just losing too many great employees. We'd hire workers with superb qualifications. They'd stay a little while and then they'd leave. Some gave two weeks notice and others just disappeared. The exit interviews were horrible - when it came to comments about the manager. They liked the company, the work, the pay and benefits, but it just wasn't enough."This person's "management style" caused more stress and emotional harm than some employees were willing to tolerate. Then the productivity studies came out, and the problem was even more obvious-even those who stayed on were doing less work, and the standard of performance for the whole department had dropped. Upper management reviewed all of the information and the manager was tactfully "let go". I asked if things had improved since and was told that they most certainly had. A new manager had been promoted from within, which boosted morale among the remaining employees. Some new hires were settling in and productivity appeared to be on the mend. The employees in the purchasing department were thriving on the positive feedback, coaching, and support that had been sorely missed. I thought about the HR department's role in this situation and realized how important it is for us to spot this type of problem early on. Managers represent the face of the company to hundreds of employees every day. We need to monitor their progress and be sure that they're putting their best foot forward every day if we want to be a great place to work and stay productive. This article may be reprinted, provided it is published in its entirety, includes the author bio information, and all links remain active. Measure. Report. Improve your organization with an AlphaMeasure employee satisfaction survey. Josh Greenberg is President of AlphaMeasure, Inc. AlphaMeasure provides organizations of all sizes a powerful web based method for measuring employee satisfaction, determining employee engagement, and increasing employee retention. Launch your employee surveys with AlphaMeasure.
MORE RESOURCES: Unable to open RSS Feed $XMLfilename with error HTTP ERROR: 404, exiting |
RELATED ARTICLES
5 Steps to Identify Core Processes Part Two of Creating Well-Defined Processes SeriesNext Week: ImplementationLast week, we raised the question: how do you know where to begin? How can you identify a gap in one of your company's core processes?The answer: follow the money trail?But how do you follow the money trail, and what will that mean for your business? To answer this, let's look at five steps to identify your core processes and any needs for change.Step 1: Define Your Business ModelThe following question might sound very basic, but you should first ask yourself: what business am I in? You'll ask this because you want to follow the money trail: to identify how exactly you earn revenue and from where that revenue comes. Five Ways to Influence Change in Others Because of my work as a consultant, trainer and coach I deal with change and people's reactions to it all the time. When a Client decides to work with us, they are recognizing that some sort of change is needed. How to Get Your Procedures Project Done Wouldn't it be nice for business owners and executives to be finished with their policies and procedures project already? They know they need to get it done, but maybe it's taking too long. Or perhaps their people are staring at a blank piece of paper, and they don't know where to begin. Creativity and Innovation - Large Firms Versus Small Firms There is a pervasive assumption that small firms are more creative and innovative than larger firms. That is, they identify problems and generate ideas (creativity) and idea select, develop and commercialise (innovate) those ideas to a greater degree than larger firms. The Measurement of Manager Training THE MEASUREMENT OF TRAINING: Evaluation is one of the most valuable - and challenging - aspects of a training manager's job. A well-planned and on-target evaluation process can be the tool which separates a superlative training department from a merely satisfactory one. What You Should Know if People Dont Buy From You and People Dont Visit Your Web Site It is essential to understand what work and what do not work when you run business, especially through Internet. 1. Is Your Business A Dysfunctional Family? The other day I brought my mother into an appliance store to purchase a television. By the time we left with her new television, she was completely disgusted. Einstein - Definition of Insanity Insanity in the Sign & Graphics IndustryEinstein's DefinitionAlbert Einstein once said "The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results". Think about this quote for a second and ask yourself, does this quote apply to the way you run your company?Have you been doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results? If so, then you might want to keep on reading. You're Hired, Now Go Home: Managing Workers at a Distance Telecommuting or virtual work opens up a wider net of potential employees for businesses - the disabled, the stay-at-home parent, the student, the retired, the flextime person, etc. However, it also creates unique challenges in hiring, supporting and managing this new group of workers. An Honest Look at Your Business There is a difference between being comfortable and being in apathy.It is very comfortable to have a smooth running organization when you have a team that knows what to do and does it. Selecting Top Talent: Improve Your Batting Average I recently gave a presentation to a group of business and community leaders on how to select talent to grow their organization. Given the expense associated with recruiting top performers and the high cost of making poor choices, you would think that those responsible for hiring would follow a systematic process that results in high quality hiring. What One Thing? A few weeks ago I asked my readers what the most important issue was in their business. Hundreds responded with a variety of answers, but one of the most common was, "How do I get everything that needs doing done?" Happily, I have an answer for this question, but like many things in life, it carries both good news and bad news. Write Winning Proposals For Venture Capitalists You need to secure money for your project. You visit venture capitalists to see if you can get that money. Think Twice Before Selling ROI When we're selling to business people, our value proposition has to show a good return. Solid, credible Return On Investment (ROI) calculations are supposed to prove this for us. To Outsource or Not to Outsource In these days of restricted head count and tight budgets, the question of whether to outsource or hire in-house staff is more critical than ever. The technical publications function, however vital, is undergoing more scrutiny and also facing greater challenges than ever before. Computer Consulting Profit Secrets Do you own or manage a computer consulting company? Are you having trouble growing your computer consulting company's profits?If so, then you must learn how to focus on your computer consulting firm's profit and bottom line.In this article, we'll look at 7 profit secrets and strategies you can use in your computer consulting business, to ensure that you are able to balance your clients' small business IT needs against your own computer consulting company's profitability challenges. Business Fit I have been an entrepreneur for over twenty years and have absolutely embraced information that would help maintain a well managed and profitable business. We have been a part of the information era for sometime now. Leadership Skills Means Turnover is Not a Problem "Ha!" you say. "For someone to make a statement like that, they obviously haven't worked in the real world and certainly have never had to run a company. Dont Sweat the Small Stuff with Your Credit Policy Do you know how many customers you have that are past due right now? How many bad checks are sitting on your desk that you don't know what to do with? How many dunning letters do you send out a month?How would you like to answer those questions with none, or very few? In a new book, "Become the Squeaky Wheel," Michelle Dunn, explains and outlines some easy procedures you can use to erase bad debt, and prevent it in the future."One thing that is often overlooked is how to prevent future credit issues," says Michelle Dunn. Saying One Thing, Doing Another... This week I was asked to speak at an internal conference for a bank. The subject was how to build a great customer experience. |
home | site map | contact us |