Harvey Mackay Column for the week of October 12, 2009 Not All Supervisors Are That Super Print Forums Refer Page

When readers of this column write to me with concerns about management practices that concern them, it grabs my attention. This particular letter from a reader I'll call "John" made me examine how I manage and how my employees perceive me. If you are a manager, you might also want to give it some thought. John wrote: "I have been in the workforce for the past 40 years, mostly as part of 'labor,' and had as many as 60-70 supervisors. I must tell you that I have been very surprised how many people who hold the title supervisor/manager fall far short when it comes to having the necessary people skills. Most know well the business portion of their jobs but when it comes to dealing with subordinates, they leave an awful lot to be desired! I was very surprised to learn that even in many large companies, people in supervisory roles have had very little or no formal training when it comes to managing others effectively.

"If I owned a business or was a part of upper management, I would require ALL my supervisors to complete course work in the field of supervision. I would have their subordinates turn in feedback on them as a means of monitoring how well these supervisors are filling their role.

"I have seen almost every undesirable behavior a supervisor could make from open use of vulgarity to playing favorites with employees to being just plain incompetent. And sometimes upper management knows of the problem behaviors and does nothing!"

Thanks for the reminder, John! Your comments are especially timely, given the shrinking workforce numbers and the additional stresses placed on workers who have increased responsibilities and workloads.

In addition, folks who never expected to be supervisors are finding themselves in that role as a result of layoffs, reorganizations and company needs. Situations like that don't allow for much formal management training—and problems multiply.

So what about John's concerns? Does he have a case?

Absolutely! Years back, a book called "The Peter Principle" by Laurence J. Peter and Raymond Hull, examined the notion that in a hierarchy, everyone rises to their level of incompetence. That is, they keep getting promoted just because they did their last job well. Does that make sense when the next level is a leadership position with people reporting to them? In a word, no.

The book goes on to say that "work is accomplished by those employees who have not reached their level of incompetence." Perhaps that explains John's frustration.

What employees need are supervisors who not only understand the business, but also can inspire them and help them become better workers. Upper management needs to be very cognizant of the practices of the next layer of the organizational chart, or those who "accomplish the work" will be working for the competition.

I recommend several steps for supervisors at any level to keep the reporting relationship positive and focused on accomplishing the company's goals.

• Know your employees. Get to know them on a level that goes beyond giving orders and checking on progress. They all have lives outside the office. Do you know anything about their families, hobbies, interests and volunteer activities? I'm not advocating being nosy or intrusive, but showing some interest in people who work with you 40 hours a week seems reasonable.
• Check your management style. Ask for feedback, anonymous or face-to-face, about your demands and expectations. Little things like attitude and tone of voice are not so little to people who can't seem to please you no matter how hard they try. Pay attention to techniques that produce the best results.
• Play fair. There will always be employees you prefer to work with, or personalities who are easier to relate to. But your employees shouldn't feel like they've entered a popularity contest. They want to be judged by their skills and competencies.
• Look to your own managers for guidance. Are there classes or seminars available to help you improve your management skills? Is the person you report to leading by bad example? Time to break the cycle.

Remember, dear supervisor, you are dealing with people, not robots. You only look good if they look good. And who doesn't want to look good?

Mackay's Moral: Managers who ignore the golden rule will quickly tarnish their careers.

The Author Harvey Mackay is a nationally syndicated columnist for United Feature Syndicate. His weekly articles appear in 52 newspapers around the country, including the Chicago Sun Times, Rocky Mountain News, Orange County Register, Minneapolis Star Tribune and Arizona Republic. http://www.mackay.com/ Copyright, Harvey Mackay. All rights reserved.