One of the simplest, but most important changes that I helped to engender in a workplace happened during a period of rapid employee disengagement. It was when I got a group of partners from one of the Big Four accountants in the division I worked to understand how their employees viewed them.
While the partners perceived themselves as highly approachable, decent, and personable; the staff saw them differently.
They were the bosses.
The impact of any interaction with staff had to be carefully considered, however inconsequential the partners might see it. These partners had power over what staff were paid, the jobs they were assigned to, the promotions they got, and over their future with the firm.
One piece of advice I always give to new managers and leaders is they need to understand the instant they took on their new role, the rest of the staff will see them as a different person, even though they may not feel any different.
I such a role tranformation, you will no longer get the same kind of feedback from staff or have the same kind of rapport with your old colleagues. There will be a new reticence and tension and unless you understand this change, you will find it could become a serious barrier.
For my group of partners, getting them to understand this dynamic meant demonstrating that they had to make a concerted effort to engage with staff. As they held the power in the relationship with their employees, people would not naturally engage with them as equals.
This had become a real barrier to effective communication such that people would feel it easier to leave than raise their problems with them. The problem seemed relatively straightforward, but the implications meant moving the partners out of their comfort zone to proactively create dialogue with their employees.
In a follow-up session with the staff, one employee announced that one of the partners had started to say hello to her and that this simple act had been transformational. She suddenly felt recognised and of importance, as opposed to feeling like a faceless member of staff.
This small change had allowed her to open up a dialogue with him that suddenly made her workplace very different –- she had quickly become far more engaged.
Strangely, the role of the line manager is too often neglected. Yet it is the central tenet of effective people management. John Purcell is one of the few academics to have studied line management. He makes the point from his research that “there are a whole series of, on their own, small actions which managers undertake on a daily basis that have a major impact on employees’ experience of working life in their organisations.”
If we are to promote effective people management, it is these actions which we must influence.
As more companies try to manage costs by stripping out layers of support roles, line managers will have to assume even more responsibility in managing their staff.
This presents an opportunity for HR functions to proactively re-engage with managers to raise their skills and understanding of their critical role.
Here’s some things organisations can do to help line managers understand their roles better:
- Use staff surveys to highlight levels of satisfaction and trust with line managers; or
- Run small staff focus groups with staff to dig deeper into the nature of relationships with management.
- Communicate results to managers and highlight implications for staff engagement and the performance & effectiveness of their teams.
- Consider holistic feedback for managers like 360-degree programmes to give confidential assessment of how managers are perceived by supervisors, peers, and staff – help build a wider understanding of the impact of their role.
- Think about selective learning and development interventions or coaching for managers, particularly those who need or desire development in this area.
