Picture: Bente Moen Borge and Linda M. Moen

We often hear about super managers, good managers, not so good managers, and bad managers.  Who is telling us this?  Well, the employees.
 
In order to be a good manager, you have to have a well-developed capacity for collaboration, for one.  A good manager must be able to communicate well with everyone, at all levels.

A manager must also have personal values that are in line with the company's management values.  It is our innermost primary values that make us, as people, act the way we do.  If a manager’s values are different from the company's values, things will go wrong.  There will be great consequences for the working environment and for the people in the company.  Quality will be poor, and that will transfer to the bottom line.

A manager must also ensure that all employees have the correct values – fully and completely. While this is very important, it seems like not enough companies “out there” place enough emphasis on it.
 
There are many management theories, and that is all well and good.
With healthy common sense, combined with a large dose of humility, 100 % honesty and a great degree of accessibility, you have come a long way in the right direction.  In addition, you have to add copious amounts of clarity and, not the least, you have to be able to acknowledge good suggestions and ideas from employees / colleagues.  You also have to be able to share necessary information, both positive and negative.  Everyone needs information, and if you don't get this information, you cannot “grow”.  Self irony is important; being confident enough in your self to be up to laugh at your own “mistakes” without feeling like you're losing face.  Be obliging and open to your colleagues / employees; both see and hear what they say.

Communication is the key to success.
Unfortunately, there are some managers that have misunderstood what it means to be a manager.  There are still many spineless managers “out there” who don't dare “face” their colleagues / employees with “uncomfortable” decisions.  Some do not inform anyone about anything, and some are so obsessed with being popular that they muzzle themselves whenever anything uncomfortable needs to be addressed.  It is a lot easier to sweep things under the rug, and ignore the bump in the carpet.  This bump grows and grows until someone or several people finally trip over it.

Then, we have those who close their office doors, enjoying their capacity as managers, and forgetting all those “on the floor”.

As a friend of mine once said, “It is just like Jesus.  Everyone has heard about him but no one has seen him.”

We also have the classic variety:  an exceptional field specialist is made a department manager with personnel responsibility… and the department grinds to a halt!  The company got a poor personnel manager and lost a competent specialist.  And the employees sit and pull out their hair in frustration…

Refusing to make decisions is also a widespread phenomenon.  This leads to great frustration and irritation among the employees, and everyone affected.  Other strong personalities in the company start to make their own rules / procedures to meet challenges.  Subcultures arise across the organisation.  Isn't making decisions also a main management task?

Another variety is the infamous transfer.  A manager is not working out in his or her department, there is great unrest… and what happens?  They move that person to another department.  After a short period, great unrest arises there as well.  Slowly but surely, the company is permeated by negative energy and disgruntled employees…

Respect
Respect is not something you can demand.  Still, there are many people who think that they can. Respect is something you earn.  You earn respect by being straightforward, clear, and reliable; by daring to speak clearly, being fair, and having good interpersonal relationships; by daring to address things that are not as they should be; by being magnanimous, able both to give and take constructive criticism.  The list is long, very long – but far from insurmountable.

Where does QHSSE fit in?  How highly prioritised is QHSSE?  Some – unfortunately – leave those binders on the shelf, believing that everything is as it should be.  Then they have something they can point to.  Is that really possible today?  Sure it is!

I believe that you are either a born leader or not. It is not something you can learn.  It is not a theory.  It is a quality you are born with; your innate qualities, abilities, and values, which are then formed and developed as you grow up, and are coloured by the social circles you move in.

If you don't have any of these qualities, or lack several of them, don't consider being a manager at all – both for your sake and for others!

Today, everyone knows that a good working environment, that has good and clear management, with a steady flow of necessary information, a manager who is good at recognising his or her colleagues, and is inclusive, increases efficiency, reduces absences and employee turnover, which in turn leads to a positive effect on the bottom line.

Management is like everything else in life.  You have to look inside yourself.  If you're going to make changes, start with yourself.  You have to see your own weaknesses and do something about them in order to be able to change others.  And you need to want it, from the heart.

There is an ocean of management development programmes and motivational seminars.  Many are good and acclaimed by the best references.  Some are based on research, and some also make use of more “modern” theories.  This is all well and good, leading to positive development for most.  But then there are those managers who lack the essential values themselves.  The values that really make you a good manager.  These people can go to as many courses and seminars as they like, but they will never be good managers.

In today's job market, there is a lot of “surfing”.  We are in a new time, constantly in a state of change.  Popularly called – a paradigm shift.

Those of us who work with job recruitment are in contact with an incredible amount of people every single day of the year.  We get questions about all these things mentioned above.  Today's job seekers are highly conscious.  Not enough people are being educated.  The main bulk of those who come through our doors are people looking to change employers.

We can say, with a great deal of certainty, that those companies with a clear, bold, and motivational coaching management style, who have a good working environment and a high level of tolerance, where decisions are made when they should be and respect in interpersonal relationships is in place - get the best people.  They have employee development programmes, with opportunities to move up in the system.  These companies are attractive and will be winners in our time.

And the companies that are having a hard time and don't see their weaknesses, will not be able to raise themselves up to the top level.

Analyses and conversations/interviews for mapping the situation don't help much if you're not going to do anything about it.
 
It is not always easy being human, nor is it easy being a good manager!  Still the good old adage still applies:  You reap what you sow.  That's the way it is and that's the way it will always be.

Article by Linda M. Moen, Working Managing Director, Vex-Gruppen AS