Superman or Manager; which are you?

How would your team do without you? Are you overwhelmed with the pressure of keeping up with everyone's work problems? or Have you ever dealt with an organization or a department that comes to a halt once the team leader isn’t around? And many times the CEO or manager is overworked, stressed and convinced he doesn’t have the right people on his team or they have no initiative?

It’s easy to fall into this trap particularly if you are a functional expert who is good at delivering on the technical/operational aspects of your job (and got promoted to manager because you are so good at your job). Many people in this situation have not made the transition from doing the work themselves to getting your team to do the work and cant grasp the fact that the output now required in terms of people not function.

There are of course a million and 1 reasons why some managers seem to end up doing all the work for their team; including – fear of failure, a need to be needed, a need to ensure things are done perfectly, etc. However, work grinding to a halt every time the manager is away is a wasteful unsustainable model and is counter-productive in the long run.

In this insightful article, the writers at Mindtools.com explore the issue of ‘Preventing Manager Dependency.’ Click here:  http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/preventing-manager-dependency.htm#np

Here’s an interesting video showing practical ways to help your people tackle the issues themselves whilst still providing the required leadership.

Demonstrating the value of Training

One of the things I  try do continually is to assess what various organization's training needs and challenges facing them are. Over time, one of the favorite woes of training/hr managers is 'management approval'. Sometimes the user department and HR  are convinced of the necessity for certain types and levels training but get shot down at approval level. Responses most often heard are - "no budget", "it’s the wrong time", “not enough value to the business", "we can’t afford to let people off work at this time" amongst other well worn answers.

Some managers are stumped for a response when faced with these answers and the training goes on hold. Many business leaders appreciate the concept of training the workforce but are unable to make the commitment in resources required to make it happen. Here are a few tips for the manager who needs to train thier team for better performance in the face of stiff competition for organizational resources.

1.      Find a way to clearly define and communicate the value of your training initiative to the organization. This may seem easy on paper. In practice we in HR and training are challenged by our limited ability to analyze data and express ourselves in numbers, especially in financial terms. We must learn to speak the language of our business. This is the only way to engage attention at the executive level.

One way to do this is to measure performance trends and their drivers both at an organizational (what are we doing?) and competitive level (what are our competitors doing?).  If w are able to make a case for value in terms of financials - increasing profits, retaining customers, decreasing costs, minimizing waste, driving innovation, increasing employer engagement or competitive advantage, to mention a few;  we will have the needed  attention at executive level to make things happen.

It is important to know where our business is (in performance and the underlying competencies required) compared to where the business needs to be. We must know how our organization did in the past, what we are doing now and future business directions - these trends need to be firmly in view as we make our case to management. Our requests for approval should be based on thorough research, clear analyses and where possible related to the bottom line  in Naira and kobo terms.

2.      Adopt a multifaceted approach to training.  From the viewpoints of transferring skills, managing costs, and enabling learning across the organization, a heterogeneous or blended approach is useful. It is possible to reduce the investment required in more expensive types of training (e.g. classroom training provided by third parties) by including/ increasing other types of learning - online learning, mentoring/coaching programs.

Training gets more effective as the combination of different approaches ensures (a) learning re-enforcement (b) encourages internalization (c) reduces monotony (d) can be a viable tool for improving synergy and collaboration across the organization.

Another good alternative is to train a few internal 'expert' to train others within the organization. This reduces the number of people attending external training, and builds organizational competency in the area of knowledge retention and distribution. For this to work however, there must be a conscious effort to harness the newly created training talent through regularly scheduled knowledge sharing sessions.

3.      Document, measure and record post training impact. Quite often, business leadership sees HR spending a lot on training with minimal evidence of transfer of this investment to the workplace. This problem can be tackled in 2 ways – (a) Select training that is action oriented. There are many learning alternatives available on the market today and 3rd party trainers with varying levels of competence. In making your selection of training provider and articulating your training requirements, it is critical to emphasize the need to integrate a practical approach that focuses on making the skills taught relevant to your specific situation and desirable for use in real life. Learners do best when they are able to practice what they are being taught and can make the connection between the learning and solutions to everyday work issues. (b) Measure and report performance impact back to management. Don’t let the last thing they see of the training be the approval request. In making the request, try to create specific achievable and measurable outcomes (as best as you can).

Once you have approval, measure on several levels – learners, assessment of the training attended, impact made from the supervisor’s perspective, as well as achievement of the outcomes previously set. This should be done both short term (0- 3months) and long term (12 months or more) and insights shared with the organization. You will find that as a training function, measuring the impact of learning also gives you the insight needed to make better training decisions and provide strategic direction.

See 2 other view points on making the most of training from the individual www.techrepublic.com/blog/10things/10-ways-to-get-maximum-value-from-a-professional-development-class/411  and organizational www.trainingmag.com/article/maximizing-business-value-training perspective .

A very popular approach for measuring training effectiveness is the Kirkpatrick model. Research it online and/or email me : info@psnlbusinesssolutions.com  to request a free toolkit for using the Kirkpatrick model to measure training impact for your organization.

Management training tips and guides

Quite a few managers get thrust into that role without formal preparation and sometimes, an unclear understanding of the dynamics of making the best of their team responsibilities. This situation is noticeable with new managers who have a challenge making the transition from being a highly regarded sole contributor to a team leader.

People struggle with change. That’s a fact of life. For a team member who is getting a new supervisor, the instinctive reaction is uncertainty and in some cases, anxiety and resistance. The manager needs a good handle on the people aspect of his role, clarity of purpose (he needs to understand what the business requires from his unit, and set clear goals in the short and long term for his team), and the right skill set to lead, motivate and communicate with his (or her) team for effective performance.

Many managers struggle with the challenge of enforcing performance standards and objectives whilst being approachable and considered a partner by members of the team. This challenge is not peculiar to new managers. Some experienced managers have struggled with this problem for years and are not as effective as they should be because of this gap in skills. And the problem isn't restricted to our market. 

Here's an excerpt I came across:  "According to the 2009 Skills Gap poll from ASTD (/American Society for Training and Development), organizations are experiencing gaps in these skills:

·         leadership and executive skills

·         basic workplace competencies that are the building blocks of successful performance in any job such as literacy and numeracy

·         professional or industry-specific skills

·         managerial and supervisory skills

·         communication and interpersonal skills

·         technical, IT, and systems skills

·         sales skills

·         Process and project management skills.

In addition, it is agreed these additional skills are needed for sustained high performance in the knowledge economy:

1.    Adaptability—the capacity to change in response to ever-shifting conditions in the economy and the marketplace, and to quickly master the new skills that such changes require

2.    Innovative thinking and action—the ability to think creatively and to generate new ideas and solutions to challenges at work

3.    Personal responsibility for learning—the willingness of individuals to take responsibility for continually improving their work-related capabilities throughout their careers. "

So how do we change this? In my opinion, there are several approaches to tackling the issue:

1.    Organizations have a responsibility to prepare members of their workforce for leadership. Whilst not everyone will become a manager, it is important for every member of the workforce to understand the concepts of leadership, followership and self management. They need to be encouraged to actively develop and exercise these skills not only in  preparation for a more senior role, but to improve productivity levels. Business these days requires a strong entrepreneurial mindset from all employees. This self driven behavior assures the ability to anticipate and meet customer needs whether or not "Big Brother' is watching!

2.    Managers and professionals need to take responsibility for developing their management and leadership skills with the understanding that this is their primary tactic to competently perform on the job and add value to themselves personally, career wise.

3.    There has to be a deeper understanding by organizational leadership, training and human resources managers of competency gaps across the workforce. Too often, there is a failure to leverage our training spend for the highest return because the basis for determining training needs and their solutions is flawed.

4.    The approach to addressing these and other skills gap needs to be guided by the understanding that classroom training can only be a part of the overall solution. Adults innovative handling for training to have any serious impact on changing behavior. Putting the individual in a management training class for few days is certainly not all that needs to be done if we want to deal with the issue conclusively. Adult learning best practices derived from years of research and observation from the field of psychology and learning are tailored around the following concepts:

i)      Training needs to engage all forms communication with the human mind (visual, aural and kinesthetic). In other words, people need to have to experience concepts in different formats for effective assimilation.

                                              

ii)     Learners need to be given the responsibility to process concepts for quicker understanding (the interactive approach). The learner tends to make more of an effort when he understands that the onus for finding the answers lies with him and other members of the class.

iii)    People tend to remember what they've practiced. People should be given the opportunity to learn and practice these skills across all parts of the business. Cross postings – opportunities for people to work outside their primary function for a set period can be a great tool to achieve this.

iv)   Repetition is key to internalization. A 'blended approach to learning and learning re-enforcement is critical. Skill development is best approached with the mindset that the classroom setting whilst great for sharing concept fundamentals, needs to be enhanced by the provision of training across channels (online, offline, and on the job). 

v)    Learning has to be directly relevant to the work situation and to the learner (and not learning for its own sake).

vi)   Measurement of training impact is important both from the individual and organizational perspectives. Pre and post training evaluations motivate learners to take training more seriously.

vii)  Choices in training courses, material and facilitation need to validated against the principles of active learning. Its important to ensure that the training is delivered according to global learning standards.

viii)  Training, and the subsequent behavioral outcomes need to be tied to performance. A learner who knows that his overall performance will be assessed on several levels including training participation and demonstrated behavior change has strong motivation to learn and apply skills acquired in the workplace