developing great managers

Bury My Heart at ConferenceRoom B

Parents Make Great Managers | PLS Case Study | Why Employees Leave Companies

Developing Great Managerswww.watercoolernewsletter.com

volume 5 issue 7 september/october 2011

Outside Expert

by Stan SlapPresident, Slap Company

OO

by SPresSlap

Where does the constant talk about leadership in organizations come from? It comes from the one thing that companies want most from their managers: emotional commitment.

A manager’s emotional commitment is the ultimate trigger for their discretionary effort, worth more than fi nancial, intellectual and physical commitment combined. It’s the kind of commitment that solves unsolvable problems, creates energy when all energy has been expended, and ignites emotional commitment in others, like employees, teams and customers. Emotional commitment means unchecked, unvarnished devotion to the company and its success; any legendary organizational performance is the result of emotionally committed managers. Leaders are those rare human beings who have emotional commitment to a cause and can inspire it in others.

Any manager can appear fully productive and enthusiastic simply because they’re fi nancially, intellectually and physically committed. But if you’ve ever witnessed a human being emotionally committed to a cause—working like they’re being paid a million when they’re not being paid a dime—you know there’s a difference and you know it’s big. It may be big but it’s not easy.

The key neurobiological source of emotional commitment comes from the ability to live one’s own deepest values in a relationship or environment. For managers, this means the relationship with their company and their environment at

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Developing Great Managers2

A few days ago I was running in Central Park as fast as I could, pushing myself hard, trying to beat my previous best time.

About halfway around the park I passed a mother walking with her two-year-old daughter. They were holding hands and she was moving at the pace of her child, about one step every fi ve seconds.

We were both enjoying ourselves, both in the moment, both focused on our task. But the contrast between us struck me.

I was the equivalent of an individual contributor in an organization. A specialist, striving to maximize my personal productivity and achievement. Specialist jobs are critical to the success of any organization, at all levels of the hierarchy.

She, on the other hand, was the equivalent of a manager,a different and equally critical job in an organization.

Here’s what occurred to me: if you want to fi nd a great manager, hire a successful parent. It’s the same job. Think about it:

Expressing care. Successful parents love their children and often make sacrifi ces to do what’s best for them.

The best managers care deeply about their employees and will help them make the right choices for them, even if it’s not in the manager’s best interest. Great managers don’t simply care about their employee’s productivity. They care about their employees. And employees who feel nurtured perform better.

Outside Expert

By Peter BregmanCEO, Bregman Partners

OOO

By PCEOBreg

I remember one manager I had early in my career for whom I worked as hard as I could. I was his right-hand person. I felt so cared for by him that when I received a job offer from another organization, I asked him what he thought I should do. I trusted him completely. We discussed it and, ultimately, he advised me to take the job because it was in my best interest. We’re still friends more than a decade later, and I would still do anything he asked.

Practicing patience. Let’s face it, parenting can sometimes be excruciatingly boring. Successful parents have a tremendous amount of patience.

Great managers pace themselves to the unique needs and abilities of each of their employees. Great managers need tremendous patience because it’s not about their individual success; it’s about the contribution of their employees. They need to be motivated by the success of others and recognize that their employees’ success is their success. Just like a parent.

Leveraging uniqueness. Great parents don’t try to fi t their kids into a box. They watch them carefully for signs of natural motivation and inclination and then try to provide opportunities for them to develop further into their areas of interest and passion.

Great managers know that the best thing they can do for their employees — as well as their companies — is get the right people in the right jobs. Employees’ positions should take advantage of their strengths and mitigate their weaknesses.

Why Parents Make Great Managers

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Great managers notice their employees’ personalities and put them in the environment where they will be most successful. I know a guy, we’ll call him John, who was failing in his job. John loved being with people but he was a technologist and spent his days coding in a cubicle all day with very little contact with people. His manager noticed this and changed his role, putting him on a project team. Once John was collaborating with others, his performance shot up.

Developing independent capability. Great parents know they have only a few critical years to impact their children and then, sooner than they imagine, their children will be out of the house. So great parents strive to foster independent, capable children. Then, when their peers have more infl uence over them than their parents, they still make the right choices.

Likewise, the best managers build independent, capable teams. They coach them to think for themselves. And they don’t try to hold on to their employees forever. Great managers know their job is to move their employees up and out of their teams into more challenging opportunities in other areas of the company while continuing to act as mentors and advisors.

Setting appropriate expectations and boundaries. If children are unclear about what’s acceptable and what’s not, they’ll freeze, unsure and insecure about whether they can act. The best parents set clear boundaries so their children feel secure and confi dent. And the best parents set appropriately high expectations so their children know to reach far, allowing for failure without giving up.

The best managers also have appropriately high expectations of their employees and set clear boundaries about what’s

acceptable and what’s not. And their employees know it and work tremendously hard to live up to those expectations.

Management is a learned skill. And people who work hard to become better parents — by reading books, going to classes, experimenting, learning from mistakes — are also learning to become better managers.

Of course there are differences. The pressure for performance outcomes with a particular employee is often more immediate than with a child. And the relationship is shorter lived: how many of us expect to have the same employees for the next 50 years? Also, if it’s not working out, you could fi re an employee but it’s unlikely you’d fi re your child.

Still, at a time when many people are out of jobs, it’s useful to notice and appreciate the ways in which they might be preparing for the next one. Maybe even by taking a two-year-old child out for a walk.

Peter Bregman is the author, most recently, of 18 Minutes: Find Your Focus, Master Distraction, and Get the Right Things Done. He advises and consults with CEOs and their leadership teams in organizations ranging from Fortune 500 companies to start-ups to nonprofi ts. He speaks worldwide on how people can lead, work, and live more powerfully. He is a frequent guest on public radio, provides commentary for CNN, and writes for Harvard Business Review, Fast Company, Forbes, and Psychology Today. Peter can be reached at www.peterbregman.com.

Developing Great Managers4 Developing Great Managers4

Case Study

By Cindy CarusoDirector of Training,PLS Group Inc.

CCC

By CDirePLS

When I began at PLS, one of the fastest-growing organizations in the fi nancial services industry, we had no formal training for our store managers except a few eLearning modules on compliance and customer service. PLS has grown rapidly in the last fi ve years, and we needed a program to help all managers operate consistently, so that customers everywhere received the same excellent experience.

PLS wants our Store Managers to be passionate, have pride, and stay hungry for new training and tools. We want them to be “self-starters” and be able to grow and develop their teams. With the right training elements in place, we knew we could create strong managers who would be able to inspire their teams, as well as be able to communicate and operationalize our aggressive growth plan.

Training Linked to Competency ModelIt was important that any training we initiated supported our competencies, so we undertook a needs assessment to identify the greatest areas of opportunity.

The results highlighted three areas:

• managing people, including interpersonal relations, hiring, employee development, team building, and retention;

• managing business, covering business drivers, customer service, loss prevention, and sales and marketing; and

• managing themselves, on leadership behaviors, image, problem solving, and creative thinking.

Top-Level Buy-inand Finding the Fit

Training Secrets

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In addition to seeking a content fi t, we wanted to fi nd a blended solution – something that would engage our managers as well as educate them. We found a front-line manager program that matched our needs assessment on all levels. The Compass Program from Root Learning comprised four major elements: Know My Role, Know My Business, Connect My Team (to the business) and Deliver Results (through my team). Core modules were customized to refl ect the specifi cs of our business. The program methodology itself was hands-on and fun, which supported our requirement to avoid a “school” atmosphere.

Pilot Program Creates Internal PullAs a fi rst step, we ran a pilot test in September 2010, with a mixed group: Store Managers, District Managers, and Directors of Operations. It was extremely well received! We knew we had the right solution when the most frequent comment during the test was “How soon can I have this program in my store?”

Rollout began with District Managers at our annual conference in April 2011. This was unique because people in training don’t always get to introduce training from the top down. Senior leadership felt this was such an important program that an extra day was added to the conference in order to have our entire mid-management staff attend the Compass course. This level of leadership support combined with custom content and internal facilitation created unprecedented ownership and buy-in and paved the way for a very successful roll-out. In July 2011 we started to take the program company-wide using a regional approach. By the end of October, 300 managers will have completed the training.

Measurable ChangeThe program is having a measurable impact on PLS, with course effectiveness receiving an average score of 4.64 out of 5. We’ve developed a survey, listing behaviors that

employees should be able to observe in managers after the course. We track these at one month, three months, and six months after attending the course. We are also developing a more traditional scorecard using metrics of turnover and various revenue items.

Comments from managers are among our clearest measures:

• “This course shows me that PLS puts people fi rst.”

• “I can apply this knowledge to any area of my life!”

• “This reminds us what we often forget to do – take care of our staff, not just our numbers.”

As a tenured training professional, there is nothing like the excitement of starting a new program that you know will hit the mark and be successful. Being able to articulate the business case while keeping stakeholders involved and paying attention to the details all along the way are the keys to success.

Cindy Caruso is Director of Training at PLS Group Inc., which was listed among Inc. magazine’s “5000 Fastest-Growing Private Companies in America” and one of Chicago’s “101 Best and Brightest Companies to Work For” by the National Association of Business Resources. For information on Compass, visit rootlearning.com/problem-solving/manager-development.

“The best and most practical training I have done at any company

I have worked for.”


Try This With Your Team!

If you ask a room fi lled with people if they’ve ever left a job because of a bad manager, chances are you’ll see a room fi lled with raised hands. Bad managers are the #1 reason why employees leave jobs. The day-to-day interaction between employees and bad managers, as shown here, is sad but common.

Gather your team and answer these questions with your manager, your reports, or your peers:

1. First, follow the new employee’s experience over time, starting at the door at the top and moving counterclockwise. Read the quotes. As a manager or as an employee, can you relate to any of these scenes?

2. When the employee joins the company, he brings new ideas, talents, and passion. But the manager’s task list doesn’t tap into any of those qualities. What is the impact on the employee? What’s the impact on the manager? How does this affect the entire team?

3. At the bottom center, the employee is trying to offer the manager new ideas, with not much luck. Why do you think this manager was unwilling to consider a new plan?

4. At the bottom right, the employee is asking other team members for help. How does a poor manager contribute to a lack of teamwork? What consequences may follow?

5. Over time, our poor employee becomes more disillusioned and disengaged with his work. What things could this manager have done differently to maximize this employee’s potential and contribution to the team?

6. Ultimately, the employee escapes to work for a competitor. At the top, we see available talent watching his experience through the window. As the cost of turnover is high, what should the organization do differently to avoid this situation with the next new employee?

7. Notice that the manager is sporting an empty tool belt and that the sign at the left says that manager training has been cancelled. Why do you think managers are often ill-equipped to lead people?

8. The article on page 14 asks, “Do great employees leave great companies that have bad managers? Or, do great employees leave companies that fail their managers?” In what waysdid this company fail this manager?

Why Great Employees Leave Bad Managers


Bad Boss – Good Boss:Learning from Both KindsBy Gary Magenta

I’ve always been fascinated with the things that distinguish a good boss from a bad boss. Just what is it that makes a good boss good and a bad boss bad? As I’ve been working on a book on management techniques, I’ve been asking people for their experiences with managers who stand out to them in negative or positive ways. See if you can relate to any of these horror stories – and success stories.

Reader Insights


Thella F. Bowens President and CEO, San Diego Airport Authority

The absolute worst boss I ever had was a bully – not just to me, but to everyone in the organization. He had all of the classic problems of a bad boss. He never gave a compliment. He looked for things to be wrong. He was a control freak and made changes to our work without consulting us. But he did teach me fortitude. He taught me to be thorough and to look at things strategically. His “nitpicking” attitude led me to watch out for things that could leave me vulnerable.

On the other hand, I once had an extraordinarily bright boss – the type of person who could sit with kings and hobos. He had a great sense of humor, didn’t take himself too seriously, and had very high performance standards. He pushed us to excel. People told me I wouldn’t like him because they perceived his demanding standards to be harsh. But I did like him. He was charismatic, and he taught me things. When I wrote my fi rst report for him, he said, “This (expletive) report sounds like you’re trying to write a novel!” I had written, “My feelings are…” and he started to sing the song “Feelings”! Then he sat with me and, sentence-by-sentence, showed me how to better structure it and better convey my thoughts. He continued to help me hone my writing skills. One day, I submitted writing to him and never heard back. I asked his secretary for his comments, and she said he’d signed off on it with no changes! She assured me that he had never done that before. This boss challenged me to think, and he challenged me to challenge him. He gave me courage to say what I thought without feeling stupid. And I still take pride in my writing skills.

Another good boss nurtured me and challenged me to stretch without “telling” me. He put me in charge of new things and let me fi gure them out. He was available when I had questions. Once, a high-ranking political offi cial called my boss to get him to change my mind on an issue. My boss let me make my own decision. I knew he had my back, which made it easy to make the right decision. Because of what I learned from him, I want to help others gain visibility and new opportunities as well.

Adrian Kurre Global Head, Hilton Garden Inn

The best manager I ever had was – lucky for me – the fi rst manager I ever had. Curt Johnson owned a service station in a small town in Minnesota. This was one of the old-time gas stations where you actually got “service,” like cleaning windows and checking tire pressure. Curt was fi rm, fair and consistent. He told me exactly what he wanted me to do, watched me do it, and gave me feedback. He was continually patient about teaching me how I could avoid repeating mistakes.

Here’s an example: When I had proven my excellent customer service skills to Curt, he decided to let me drive the bulk delivery truck to construction sites. Despite never having driven a stick-shift truck, I drove the big rig to fi ll up some equipment. The fi rst tanks had regular fuel, and the last had diesel fuel. You can probably guess what happened. I put 100 gallons of regular gas into a diesel engine. When I realized this, I briefl y wondered if I could get away with this

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From the CEO’s Desk

Jim HaudanChief Executive Offi cer,Root

FFFr

Jim ChieRoot

GreatManagement:

PromotionIt’s More Than Just a

Engagement hinges on creating a clear line of sight from the marketplace to every employee so they can execute strategy. In working with clients, we’ve seen workers who had voted to strike willingly change their votes, people who had been cynical and apathetic become excited and motivated, and companies who, in several months, achieved results they thought would take several years.

However, we’ve also heard accounts of poor results — one involving a fi nancial services client who was trying to execute a new strategy across the entire banking system. Visual tools helped its thousands of employees understand the dramatic changes in the marketplace, the newly crafted strategy, and the core economics. The project was a huge initial success.


Because they were concerned about sustainability, the bank’s leaders hired a cultural anthropologist to monitor the implementation and measure its impact on people’s actions and behaviors. The anthropologist found that change was sustained only when the managers interpreted the strategy accurately and translated it into real meaning for their teams. Where managers did not do this, people concluded that the meetings they attended about the strategic goals were not primarily intended for them!

Creating a line of sight across the business for all stakeholders is stopped if managers can’t interpret and translate the strategy at the team and individual level. Managers then become a “cork” in the execution of strategy. To engage people in the game plan, managers need to interpret and translate new strategic actions.

Think of an organization as an orchestra — its musicians have different competencies, and they all contribute to the performance. When a conductor is needed, leadership often picks the best instrumentalist, the head violinist, for example. However, despite her talent as a violinist, she is ill-prepared to be the conductor. One assignment is about being an expert in a specifi c area and mastering it. The other is about blending the talents of everyone in the orchestra into a high-performing team. Most former head violinists can’t interpret and translate the new music that must be played strategically!

So managers get a double whammy. They ask, “How can I engage and connect people in the strategy by interpreting and translating it effectively?” and “How can I lead by being an expert in one element while getting the team to perform together?” Managers see their plight as diffi cult at best and hopeless at worst. So, when trying to execute strategy through people, managers can be either the cork or catalyst

to generating results. Most managers struggle to evolve from being an expert in their area to calling out the expertise of others so the team can perform masterfully. And yet managers’ most important role is to successfully interpret and translate the new strategy to their team members in a way that makes sense to them.

All managers must know four things:

1. Know the business. Everything from the big picture of the marketplace to core processes to strategic direction. This step is vital in making the strategy a reality.

2. Know their role. Most managers discount the importance of their role — to create a great team. It’s not all about projects and process, but about people — starting with managers themselves.

3. Know how to connect their teams to the business. Beyond speeches, this is the hands-on, step-by-step job that needs to be broken down so people can know the “why” and “how” of their jobs. Great managers help their team members see that they are part of something much bigger and that they truly make a difference.

4. Know how to deliver results through their teams. They need to know the basics of building effective working relationships, setting clear expectations, coaching and developing people, and following up to ensure executions and celebrate “victories.”

If a strategy is to succeed, managers need to interpret and translate the music into something people can actually play.

Previously published in Leadership Excellence, February 2009.


error, but I knew I had to tell the truth. The construction boss was not exactly happy, as it took 8 hours to drain the tank, clean it out, and get it working again. When I got back to the station, Curt calmly sat me down and told me that I’d screwed up. And without losing his temper, he asked what I had learned that day. He didn’t fi re me and he didn’t even yell. He told me in a fair and honest way that I had messed up, but that I had made an honest mistake, I’d admitted it, and I’d become wiser.

Curt’s management skills were tested again just a couple of months later when I drove the bulk truck a half-mile with the emergency brake on. This caused a grease

fi re under the truck fi lled with gasoline. The fi re truck, Curt, and I arrived at the fi re

at the same time. Curt smiled, but the next day, we had another chat about what I’d learned.

The greatest thing Curt did for me was to be consistent all the way. He knew the difference between being plain stupid and making an honest mistake. He taught me that it’s best to hire good people, explain what they’re supposed to do, and let them do their job in whatever way they like best. I remembered all he had taught me and developed them into habits for being a good leader. Whenever my team gets good results, I give the credit to Curt.

And this is Gary’s story…I was already in my 30s when took my fi rst corporate job. I’d had my own business and had worked with my family, so I’d never really had a true manager. When I sold my business and accepted a corporate position, the plan was to work remotely for nine months, and then relocate to take on a newly created position.

The man who would become my manager was an affable, tenured vice president with a gift of gab. Once I started with the company, however, I never heard from him. Never. I told myself that he was really busy, and I’d have plenty of time

to talk with him later. When I relocated, I was bursting with enthusiasm as I walked into my manager’s offi ce on my fi rst day there.

“What are you doing here?” he said. “Is this the week you’re starting? I forgot. Ask my secretary to fi nd you a place to sit.” The only thing worse than his welcome was his negative reaction as he reviewed the raise I was supposed to get. This was my fi rst day in my new offi ce, the beginning of a new position, and I was already having doubts.

Whenever I had the chance to meet with my manager, he talked from the start of the meeting until the very end. He was always multi-tasking – talking, typing, and answering his phone at the same time. He never once asked me a question.

I was frustrated. I wanted his input, feedback, recognition, and counsel. After about fi ve months, I confronted him about my frustration. I said that I didn’t feel I was being heard, and that I had a lot to offer. That’s when he told me he was leaving the company for another job!

This was the end of my fi rst experience with a “manager.” While I believed, and still do, that he wasn’t a very good manager or role model, he did start me thinking about what kind of a manager I’d been in the past, what kind of manager I wanted to become, and how I would like my future managers to engage me.

I decided that I wanted to have a manager – and be a manager – who treated people with respect, who valued them as real people with meaningful lives and valuable experiences that extended beyond the halls of business.

What did you learn from your best and worst managers? Let us know! Email your stories to [email protected].

My best boss had a great

sense of humorand high

performancestandards.


Real leaders use their deepest personal valuesto make life better for others.

work. Manager may be a great job to have but imbedded in any manager’s job description is the constant requirement to subordinate or even compromise personal values in favor of company priorities. What the company wants done and how it wants it done must regularly take precedence over personal priorities. Serve your company fi rst, this is what it means to be a manager. But this is not what it means to bea real leader.

Real leaders are people who live their deepest personal values without compromise and they use those values to make life better for others—this is why people become leaders and why people follow leaders. Leaders also remain the model of human beings driven to emotional commitment, against all odds and, if necessary, against all protective common sense, with the ability to create the same in others. It’s real leaders that a company needs most if the organization is going to thrive.

Yet leadership in its truest form is seen as a hectic proposition, a messy thing, and for all its tempting benefi ts, uncertain and uncontrollable. The intuitive corporate concern is that real leaders won’t carry the company values wallet card; they’ll carry their own and they’ll burn the corporate house down in order to advance their cause. Allowing real leaders to thoroughly inhabit the system could destroy the system. They’ll reorder the balance of power without considering practical consequences. This concern can be defi ned as: reasonable. That’s what genuine, powerful leaders have often done throughout history.

But only if destroying the system was the purpose of their leadership. What if it were to protect the system? What if real leaders, transformed from throughout the ranks of a company’s managers, fl ourished in the belief that to protect the company was to protect their ability to gain the personal benefi ts of leadership—to live their most important personal values every day at work?

New truth: The cause cannot always be the company; instead, it must also be managers’ pursuit of their own values within the company. This isn’t licensing chaos; it is ensuring control. There is no more reliable way for the company to become the cause than by not always insisting on being the cause.

Human behavior is only unpredictable and dangerous if you don’t start from humanity in the fi rst place. To safely trust managers a company must allow itself to be the best possible place for managers to practice true fulfi llment, to live their values, and to realize deep connectivity and purpose.

This is the system managers will protect. This is the system managers dream about.

Stan Slap has revolutionized performance for many of the world’s most successful, demanding organizations. His international consulting company, slap, specializes in achieving ferocious commitment in manager, employee, and customer cultures––the three groups that decide the success of any business. His client list ranges from Google to

Viacom. Stan’s fi rst book, Bury My Heart at Conference Room B, topped bestseller lists including New York Times, Wall St. Journal and USA Today. He is at work on his second book and, whenever he can, lives in San Francisco. slapcompany.com


Point-of-View

By Gary MagentaSenior Vice President, Root

PPPo

By GSenioRoot

Throughout the business world, managers rely on their employees to deliver results. Managers know that there is a never-ending war for top talent, even in troubled economic times. They count on their HR partners to do their very best to bring them candidates who are qualifi ed and, in the best-case scenario, passionate about their organization or brand. In partnership with HR, managers screen the brightest and hire the best with the promise of tapping into that passion they bring with them. New employees look forward to putting their passions to work and developing new skills and capabilities. For the new hires, Day 1 is full of possibilities and opportunities for a bright future. Add a manager who is eager to bring on a much-needed and talented team member to a new employee who is anxious to contribute, and you have a recipe for success. Right?

Well, for some new employees, this eagerness doesn’t last long. They lose that initial passion and, within their fi rst 90 days, they leave! Why? Did HR select the wrong candidate? Did the manager overlook something in the interview process? HR and managers are left wondering what went wrong and trying to fi gure out how they can hire the “right candidate” next time.

Our experience tells us that the right candidate was hired. But often, new employees leave because of their managers. Why? Are they just plain bad managers? In most cases, the answer is no! Managers are constantly trying to do the right thing – just like their employee counterparts. They arrive at their job committed, with passion and excitement. They want to be great managers who engage their employees and connect them to the business, but they are fi nding that this just isn’t possible in the environment they have become part of.

leave great companies?

Why do greatemployees

www.watercoolernewsletter.com 15

For managers to engage and connect with their employees in a way that maintains and heightens their passion and garners the greatest contribution, they must have the tools and the time. And our clients tell us that, as a rule, their managers just don’t have either. So managers are often forced to thrust their new employees directly into the work, partially or completely bypassing onboarding, training, and ongoing coaching, yet they have the same expectations for greatness.

Without taking the time to invest in their employees’ development, managers often fi nd themselves having to micro-manage their employees. When managers don’t have the time or resources, they can become jaded and are no longer thinking about the development of their employees, but just getting through the day. As a result, managers ask their employees to take on tasks instead of projects or initiatives, and employees fi nd that their ideas for how they can best contribute to the organization fall on deaf ears. They are left wondering what happened to their dreams, passions, and excitement.

Our experience tells us that the fi rst 90 days of an employee’s tenure are the most critical. If a company can retain an employee for the fi rst 90 days, that is a leading indicator that they will be around for at least the next several years. Keeping people engaged, passionate, and contributing over that period of time is crucial. Managers don’t want high turnover, but they seem helpless to change that trajectory.

So managers come to expect the loss of the best and brightest to competitors. They often feel as if they are, or are labeled as, “bad managers.” In many instances, it’s not their fault. They lack the resources to support their success.

On a recent trip to Zappos’ headquarters in Nevada, I learned how their managers were engaging their employees and winning with their customers. They believe that, to drive the best business results (measured by customer satisfaction and repeat business), they need to invest in their people. Onboarding and an “incubation” period can last up to six

months before job-specifi c training ever starts. Ongoing coaching and mentoring follows, resulting in exceptionally low turnover and a nine-month wait list just to get an in-person interview!

A 2011 study by Bersin & Associates showed that while 70% of organizations claim they coach their employees, only 11% of senior leaders actively participate in coaching. And more than that, companies with senior leaders who coach, develop, and hold others accountable for coaching and development are three times more effective at producing improved business and talent results.

So if leaders aren’t investing in their own reports, why would anyone else? The result is managers who haven’t been invested in, which leads to employees who are unsupported and, therefore, get disillusioned.

If that’s the problem, we need to look at partnerships between managers and leaders of the business. Even the best managers need time to spend training and coaching their employees. They need the investment outside of their regular job to build the skills to engage a team. Managers need the tools to onboard and continuously develop their teams and managers. They need to know what to say so they are consistently involving their teams in relevant topics across the business. The responsibility for these deliverables falls largely on the leadership team, including HR partners.

So…do great employees leave great companies that have bad managers?

Or do great employees leave companies that fail their managers?

What is your company doing to support your managers in engaging their employees? We want to know. Email us at [email protected].

News and Events• SHRM 2011 Strategy Conference, October 5 – 7, Chicago, www.shrm.org

• Compass Manager Development Open Buyer Sessions: October 13 in Boston, and October 27 in Washington

DC. Contact Adam Scott at [email protected] for details.

• Customer Loyalty Conference, October 18 – 19, NY, www.conference-board.org

• Strategy Execution Forum, October 4 in Chicago, November 3 in Houston, and November 15 in New York,

www.rootlink.com/announcing/geo/strategyforum/site/

• ASTD 2012 TechKnowledge Conference, Las Vegas, January 25 – 27, www.astd.org

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The next issue of the newsletter will be published November/December 2011.

developing great managers

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