5/13/12

What is the Role of The Manager?



What is the role of the manager?

The primary relationship of employee vs. retention and/or turnover is the employee’s manager.  If the manager get’s it right the odds are in their favor that an excellent retention level is going to be the norm.  Get it wrong and it becomes the cavernous abyss for which all employees eventually fall into.
There are four areas I believe that are critical for a manager to ensure a great working relationship with his/her team, encourage camaraderie, promote team spirit and achieve the vision:
a.    There is more to bringing on a new employee or a new manager than just doing the paperwork.  This is the point where all parties can memorialize their intentions, expectations and business format.
b.      Exploring the concerns of the new employee or manager
c.       Defining the most effective communication process
d.      Making the inbound transition as smooth as humanly possible

2.       Setting of Mutual and Meaningful Goals
a.       Goals cannot be unrealistic
b.      Goals must have a value and/or a reward at the end
c.       Goals must be agreed to by all parties to ensure that there will be no communication nightmares
d.      Goals must be a challenge and designed to stimulate the mind to reach higher and higher
e.      Goals must be specific not rolled into one huge ball so that picking and choosing is an option
3.       Utilizing a Standard of Measurement
a.       Performance Measurement is not an option, even for the top performers
b.      A measurement tool can set the bar based on individual performance as one size does not fit all
c.       Performance Measurement tools will provide you with meaningful data to enable mentoring, training, achievement above and beyond and personal and corporate growth
4.       Willingness to Reevaluate and Regroup
a.       Not all plans or goals turn out at 100%
b.      All parties concerned must recognize that what hasn’t worked, must be fixed and what has worked may or may not need to be tweaked to make it even better
c.       Many studies have shown that once a growth plan is in place, it will be modified as many as five times before it is deemed worthy and correct.  So do not become case hardened just because it was your idea.
SPECIAL NOTE:
                                                              i.      Remember that employees typically quit their bosses not the company
                                                            ii.      Good companies fix bad managers
                                                          iii.      Bad companies condone bad manager
 Regards,
George F. Mancuso, CPC, CEO
Client Growth Consultants, Inc.