What's Wrong With Managers These Days?

Or, just what is a good manager?

First, let’s establish why companies exist. Simple – they are in business to make a profit. There are many secondary reasons a company might exist, but unless they are a non-profit (which would technically define them as NOT a company), their primary purpose is to make money. With that said...

• What is the purpose of a manager or any other person in leadership within a company? Their foundational purpose is to make sure that the work is done, as to facilitate profit for their company. Making sure that work is completed, supervising employees and handling all of the administration duties associated with those things are obvious priorities to a manager, but this is where a major misconception is held by many people. Handling process and the admin are only part of the role of a manager. Managing people is equally as important, if not more so!
• Happy and fulfilled employees equate to higher morale, which in turn produces higher productivity and dedication (long-term employees), and that ultimately lowers costs and potentially produces higher profit.
• Good communication is essential in ANY interpersonal relationship, whether it be your spouse, your children, siblings, friends, neighbors, your coworkers or employees. Good communication is an absolute necessity from a good manager, and it should be promoted as two-way.
• Creating a connection with the people who work for you or with you is important. It’s about empathy – the Golden Rule – treating other people the way you would want to be treated if you were them, in their position.
• Good managers regularly recognize good employees and not just correct them. Don’t we all want an “attagirl / attaboy” just once in a while? Constructive and guiding correction is also essential, but no, you are not their parent, you're their manager – their leader.
• A good manager doesn’t have to be anyone’s personal friend, but they must be an advocate for all of their reports. They must fight for what's right for their employees. It's about finding the correct balance of what's best for the company, with what's best for the employee.
• You can’t make every employee happy, and not all employees are either properly qualified or in a role that they are fulfilled in. Nevertheless, it is the duty of a good manager to promote success for their employees, and to help guide them to be more effective in their job.
• In order for a manager to be able to do their job effectively, they first need to be empowered by their own management chain-of-command. That is, they need to have some level of authority allocated to them in order to make decisions and to command authority. Responsibility without authority is useless. A manager must first have the proper authority delegated to them before they can effectively manage anyone else, or a department.
• Directors, VPs and higher must absolutely delegate authority to their reporting managers, or all they have is a system of micromanagement, and potential “yes-men.” Delegation of authority isn't just giving away all of your power, it's empowering them to do a better job. Their job is to manage, and your job is to checkup on them and to help, not control.
• Does your company espouse a set of "core values?" If so, then every level of management should be leading by example, and their performance should be judged by this criteria. You can't have a high-value organization if leaders within it do not embrace the company values.

Not everyone is cut out to be a manager, and that’s fine, but either take the time to learn how to be a good manager yourself – or get out of management! Organizations need to be aware of the trap of the "Peter Principle." It is defined as simply trying to use what has worked before, even when it may exceed its effective scope. So, within a business, an employee is often only evaluated for a promotion based on their current job performance. This eventually results in their being promoted to their highest level of competence. Unfortunately the cycle continues, and the person is promoted into a role in which they are not competent, referred to as their "level of incompetence". This is usually the result of the skills required being different, rather than more difficult. An excellent technician may be a poor manager because they do not have the social skills necessary to lead a team.

No one deserves to be a leader, simply because of time, seniority, age or connections, and everyone within a professional enterprise should be accountable for their behavior. Managers should be accountable for the effectiveness of their people management too, and not just the work. To be fair, it use to be that companies furnished management training to potential and active managers, but many now don't. I think it’s a big problem, and it is unfortunately common within today's corporate business culture. I also think it ultimately costs companies money, as it's a missed investment. People need to be taught how to be effective managers and senior management needs to know how to cultivate existing and future managers.

Companies don’t hire uneducated or unprepared people to fill specific roles, right? So why would they expect an employee to just magically be prepared to manage other people? Also, just because a new manager managed employees at another company, does not mean that they are properly qualified to manage your company's employees. Help your company succeed by educating managers properly, in order to manage people properly.

< sigh > I guess I'm just a starry-eyed idealist.