THE modern manager becoming more skilful at his role is absolutely critical to the success of an organisation. I heard about the head of a government department who was on the brink of retiring, and was asked by the ministry to train and prepare a couple of her staff members to become suitable candidates when she left – a little succession planning. She declared that she had to teach herself all that she knew, and so she would NEVER train others to know what she knows – they would have to learn for themselves!

Some readers may smirk at this scenario, and it would indeed be humorous had it not been true.

I have come to realise that there are many managers in Jamaica who are not enlightened, and really need to understand that one of the basic principles of management involves developing, encouraging and providing the right environment for their staff to both maximise their own potential as well as to optimise their productivity and their contribution to the organisation.

Many managers hoard information from their staff, and start feeling threatened if it seems that their staff will become more qualified, or more knowledgeable than them!

I have heard countless horror stories from MBA students about their managers, and I am concerned about the collective carnage being wreaked in our organisations by our managers.

The fact of Jamaica’s low productivity rates (even when compared with our Caribbean neighbours) has been spoken about ad nauseam. The reasons are definitely multifaceted, but let us call a spade a spade: one key contributor definitely has to do with the general calibre of the managers in our society!

Staff development

is critical

Let me quote from Valcour’s 2014 article titled -If you are not Helping People Develop you are not Management Material. “Good managers attract candidates, drive performance, engagement and retention, and play a key role in maximising employees’ contribution to the firm. Poor managers, by contrast, are a drag on all of the above. They cost your firm a ton of money in turnover costs and missed opportunities for employee contribution, and they do more damage than you realise.”

As the name of the article suggests, Valcour stresses that a key role of a manager is to develop his/her people. She continued by stating, “Managers also have a big impact on turnover and retention. The number one reason employees quit their jobs is because of a poor quality relationship with their direct manager. No one wants to work for a boss who doesn’t take an interest in their development, doesn’t help them deepen their skills and learn new ones, and doesn’t validate their contributions. This isn’t what departing employees tell HR during their exit interviews, of course. After all, who wants to burn a bridge to a previous employer? Instead, they say they’re leaving because of a better opportunity elsewhere. And so what happens is that organisations remain in the dark regarding how much damage their inept managers are doing.”

The good manager

Good managers seek to hire persons they think are better than them. Good managers should not feel intimidated or insecure when a candidate seems to be more qualified. The irony is that while the poor manager is only concerned because of his/her insecurities, the good manager knows that hiring a star will make the manager look good! I remember being on an interview panel and the other interviewers did not like a particular candidate and would have jettisoned him because “he was too show-off.” I thought it strange because I thought the candidate was confident, and certainly the best candidate. However, because of the culture of that organisation they were willing to hire someone else who I knew could not handle the job. Good thing I was on the panel — the candidate got the job — and performed well.

Good managers put effort into staff development, and spend time training their staff. Whenever I see the need I schedule training sessions with my staff on particular areas I think they need to know. It is also good value for money to send staff on training courses. Remember this quotation from the management guru Peter Drucker — “If you think training is expensive consider ignorance!”

When you see a harried, harassed manager who finds it impossible to take a vacation — probably he/she needs to develop staff to be able to take care of things while the manager is off. Jack Welch — the famous super CEO who made General Electric one of the most valuable companies in America, personally lectured in GE’s leadership development programme. You may wonder, “How did he manage such a large organisation and yet find the time to personally train his staff?” Well, he thought that staff development and training were important!

Good managers do not scream at their staff, throw tantrums or otherwise display personality disorders at work! I really should say — the organisation should ensure it does not happen. Many employees suffer in silence because of the fear of losing their jobs — and instead of focusing on their work, are always seeking an opportunity to jump ship. Managers of managers should pay more attention to how the managers that report to them in turn treat their staff. A lot of stuff is happening out there — very likely in your own organisation.

Good managers should not display bias. The last thing you want to do is to create disharmony in the ranks and foster resentment. When favouritism is displayed, people will start to form their own opinions about the reasons for this and, rest assured, they will not be hindered merely by a lack of the facts. They will create their own “facts” and circulate them. You will also lose their trust and respect. Neither does it stop there, remember Jamaica is a very small place, and word gets around! People want a superior that they can trust. According to Hill and Lineback in their 2011 article, Are you a Good Boss, or a Great One?, “Trust is the foundation of all forms of influence other than coercion. You need to foster it.”

Good managers know that “what gets measured, gets done.” Try asking someone from another department to help you with a project that you need to get done for your boss. It may be difficult if the person is not being assessed based on how that extraneous task is performed. Sometimes an employee is asked to perform an important task in his/her own department, but again if performance assessment is not done for that task — it may never get done well, or at all.

Good managers know that when something goes wrong, the right course of action should be to fix the process, instead of just finding the persons to blame. Many errors and mistakes are caused by faulty, sometimes outdated processes.

Dr Kenroy Wedderburn, JP, is a part-time lecturer on the MBA programme at the University of Technology, Jamaica. Send your e-mails to drkwedderburn @gmail.com.