In class last weekend, we had a session about matching employee compensation to company goals. This, in turn, got me thinking about how to motivate employees.
My study group talked about it over drinks that evening (because earning an MBA means minoring in beer drinking), and we digressed into "What makes a good manager?" and "Are you a good manager?" Think about it - the best manager you've ever had - probably wasn't the one who gave you the most money. I'd suggest that just throwing money at employees (pay for individual performance) isn't best for the employee or company. It's an uncreative solution to a complex situation.
At my company - I've had both one of the best managers and the worst managers ever. The good manager focused on my skill set and looked for opportunities for me to grow in the organization. He recommended pursuing the MBA, and looked for ways to get the company to sponsor it. He gave me raises and promotions, sure, but more than that, he gave me opportunity and responsibility... and for me... that goes a long way. I felt like he always had my back, and that he took his management role seriously, not just as a path to more power and money. He was managing people bc he did it well, and could bring out the best in them. He's a true asset to the company.
The worst manager treated all his direct reports like peons. In his view, we were unable to make our own decisions, as we needed his "executive insight" on everything. Nevermind that I work on the website and he had no idea about how websites work. This arbitrary authority left us feeling insignificant and frustrated, as his "authority" really became an enormous bottleneck that encouraged us NOT to try anything new or "out of the box." Not only was he unlikely to get behind and champion an idea, but also we knew that if anything went wrong - well, let's just say you couldn't count on him to have your back.
The WSJ had an article yesterday, Two Football Coaches Have a Lot to Teach Screaming Managers that took another slant on this same issue. The writer, Hymowitz, suggests that the motivational technique of belittling employees isn't very effective. While increasingly uncommon in the corporate world, it's still a thriving aspect of the sports world. However, the two coaches for this Sunday's Superbowl - Lovie and Dungy - have turned their backs on this traditional management technique. Instead, they treat their players with respect and patience. Now, they certainly are tough coaches who expect the best all the time (and have structured a reward system to match their expectations), but they realize the best way to performance lies in building people up.
It's all very interesting to consider. I haven't crystallized my thoughts on this, but I thought I'd blog on it to open the floor.
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
5 comments:
This is a great topic. As a new manager (about 18 months now) I've spent a lot of time thinking about it, and it's great to hear about things that work. I have found that, as with most interactions, I build a lot of positive credit with the people I'm managing when I praise them and give them positive feedback. I have to admit I've had to work with them a lot--and they've been very patient--as I've figured out how to give corrective feedback in a constructive and positive way.
I've had some truly horrible managers. I really like my manager right now. She really gives me a lot of freedom to do what I think needs doing. I've also, I think, proved to her that I will have HER back and that she can trust me to keep her informed. I feel like that trust aspect has to go both ways. With that said, the manager has disproportionate power and must be more sensitive to creating that trust.
How many of you have managerial responsibilities yourselves? Did you guys talk about the struggle to manage someone who has a very different way of being in the world than you? What I mean is, I am very different from the people I manage. When I first started, I didn't realize that I couldn't just handle people the way that I would handle myself. I've been pretty motivated to learn how to do things differently, because I really, really don't want to be one of those horrible managers!
The absolute best thing my current manager does is provide one-on-one meetings with each of us every week. Even if we have nothing to talk about, this regular meeting has done more to create an open flow of communication than anything else. Half the time we don't even talk about projects, but this opennness helps establish rapport and trust. It's quite a simple technique (meeting once/week one-on-one) but it's absolutely the best thing a mgr can do. Of course one would assume the one-on-one meeting isn't filled with directives, criticisms, and warnings (at least ours aren't). It should be fun, flexible, and conversational.
I absolutely agree - weekly meetings are a great management tool. Funny you mention that, as the really great manager I had always held those and almost never had to miss one. The really bad manager tried to have them at first, but he'd dial in late (leaving you holding for 5-15 minutes), reschedule all the time, etc. until he finally gave up and asked us to just send a weekly email detailing what we were working on and the progress we'd made. It sent a very clear signal as to which manager cared, and which clearly didn't. It's impossible to do what your manager and organization wants, if no one ever takes the time to talk to you! I found the weekly phone calls, as you said, to be a great way to reconnect with my manager and his goals. We also had weekly team conference calls, which were super for connecting with each other in a larger group.
Wow, this is both encouraging and discouraging at the same time. I'm glad to hear that weekly meetings are effective, but I'm afraid I sometimes let project meetings and "urgent" issues take over those meeting times. Obviously I need to lock those down.
The majority of my professional experience has been under the "tutelage" of poor managers. I can only recount 1 manager that I both respected and enjoyed working for. He held weekly one-on-one meetings that were both unstructured and inviolate. I always felt that he actually cared about me and my personal and professional growth. The other managers never placed the same importance on his employees. In fact, to this day, I remain friends with that manager, despite living in different timezones.
Post a Comment