So... How are those New Year's resolutions going?

Happy New Year to you all!  

I sincerely hope that you are already experiencing the peace and good health that you may have wished for as the clock struck midnight on the last day of 2011.

So, what resolutions did you make?  Aside from a promising yourself to make every effort to transform your lifestyle by taking up another health club membership/dietary programme/marathon plan or make amends to previously difficult or dissolved relationships - what else did you wish for?  What else did you hope for?

I hope that you realise there is a good chance that at the same time you were considering your future, some of the people who work for you were vowing to change their own direction in some way.  Some will have decided that this is the year that they will take on a new challenge; a new beginning through a new job.

If you are a manager then my question to you is simple…

Why?

Why is it that some of your staff want to leave you and why does it take a traditional moment like New Year’s Eve for them to face up to the issues they have and plan to make such a significant change with such significant risks?

Things must be bad!

Firstly, you must not take it all too personally.  After all, I imagine you’ve made similar promises to yourself in the past that have never materialised.  In reality many of your people will not go through with it.  Most will get sidetracked with one thing or another but, some will make it, or at least get very close to seeing it through.  But this does not mean you should ignore it.

If you were to enter the words ‘common reasons why people leave jobs’ into a standard web search engine you will be faced with numerous articles and lists providing insight into the motivating factors that trigger such decisions.  I have read through quite a few of them whilst simultaneously writing this post and as one might expect – they are all saying more or less the same thing and citing the same reasons.  And those reasons are inevitably due to poor management.  Here’s a factoid that sums it up from: www.ihatemyjobnow.com:

“As is often said, “Employees don’t quit their companies, they quit their bosses.” About 35 percent of workers who have quit a job cite a bad boss as the deciding factor…”

Now I cannot guarantee the accuracy of the statistic quoted above but I can imagine that the perceived inter-relationship between ‘boss’ and ‘worker’ is the main motivator for the majority of resignation letters that cross the desk on a daily basis across the world over.   

Note I use the word ‘perceived’ as I believe that the employee’s misinterpretation of the relationship is often the root cause of workplace unhappiness.  Busy and stressed Bosses can sometimes over look the importance of the employee’s interpretation of the psychological contract. 

The prevention of free thinking and true ownership of tasks prohibits development and individuals will seek other opportunities to ‘make their mark’.  Similarly, a thankless environment and a culture of blame will also cause unrest and is not conducive to a happy workforce.  Managers must learn to lead; and leading effectively means empowering others.

It’s never too late to add to your New Year’s list of resolutions.  If you are a Manager; make sure that somewhere near the top of your list is the promise that you will make an extra effort to make your organisation an exciting and participative place to be for your workers and teams.  Promise yourself that you will consider the needs of your staff as part of your everyday activities.  Otherwise, you can guarantee that many of them will be doing their level best to act upon their resolution to leave.

Wishing you every success in all that you do,

Keith  

How to lose friends and disenfranchise people

We’re Landlords of a property in Scotland.  It’s no big thing, just a three-bedroom apartment.  The Letting Manager has stopped responding to our inquiries and refuses to return our calls.  We don’t mean to bother him.  It’s just that we haven’t received all of the rent.  I think that’s good enough reason to disturb his lunch don’t you?  Maybe he doesn’t like being a Manager anymore.  Perhaps the fun has worn off and it’s all become too much trouble.  He’s still taking his 12% cut though.  So why wear the badge if you’re not going to be the person it that it represents?

Isn’t it odd that many people aspire to win the coveted title of ‘Manager’ but when they eventually realize their goal they become the most ignorant and worthless operators who struggle to acknowledge their past ambitions let alone recognize the individuals that make up their team or department or organization?

It amazes me that people operating under this umbrella-title so often relinquish their responsibilities so soon after acquiring them.  You would think that they’d throw themselves into the role.  After all, they’ve waited for it long enough.  They’ve supposedly worked hard for it.  Yet once they’ve had the title bestowed upon them too many will duck and dive; seek to blame others and generally act totally irresponsibly.

The thing is...  The title ‘Manager’ is supposed to mean something.  Look it up in any dictionary and you’ll see that the title infers some form of higher level of responsibility, accountability and authority.

I know of an Accountant that was particularly good at his job.  So much so that he was placed in-charge of the firm’s Accounts Department.  Problem was, the Accounts Department contained people; and he was now in-charge of them too.  Clearly this was another challenge that he would be able to take in his stride because he was such a great Accountant. 

Wrong!  Totally wrong!

So the point here is two-fold:   

First, if you’re an aspiring manager (or you may already hold this title) then please remember what it means to be a Manager.  I don’t mean a systems manager or a manager of equipment but I mean a Manager of People.  There are expectations held by everyone that once they see your badge they assume and expect that you’re up for the job. It tells everyone that you are proficient as a Manager and more importantly that you give a damn. 

Secondly, if you’re considering promoting someone into a managerial role then you must consider their ability to manage others, otherwise it’s unfair on the Manager, the people that hope to be managed and you’ll end up looking like an idiot.

As ever, with best wishes in all that you do,

Keith