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Prompting Managers On The Job
No matter what
ineffective managers are taught in the classroom, however, they tend
to revert to the practices they have learned from their own experience
on the job. It is
necessary, therefore, to guide or prompt them on the job to change,
otherwise they may continue to behave the way they have in the past.
This is the critical fourth
step in the redevelopment process.
When it is done properly, ineffective managers can be expected
to improve significantly.
The experience of one
biotechnology company in adopting new performance evaluation practices
illustrates one way to guide the change process. The company recognized the need to improve its performance
appraisal practices after its employees responded to a Management
Practices Survey. A new
system was developed and all employees were taught how to conduct
effective performance reviews.
A few weeks after the
annual performance reviews were conducted, all employees were asked to
respond to another Management Practices Survey which showed that a
significant improvement had been made in the company’s performance
evaluation practices.
The company’s most
effective managers, who already were using good practices, improved
another 10%. The least
effective managers improved by more than 27%.
While the least effective had more room to improve, they also
had to overcome the skepticism of their employees who had previously
rated their management practices as largely ineffective.
The substantial improvement in the practices of the least
effective managers appears to be due to the fact that the new
performance evaluation system prompted and guided them in adopting
better practices on the job.
Involvement of
employees in the change process seems to be a key factor in assisting
ineffective managers to improve.
Another way to assure that managers change on the job is to
involve their employees in the change process.
The effectiveness of this technique is illustrated by the role
of employees in helping one of the least effective managers at a
biotechnology company become an above average manager.
The Management Practices Survey showed that this manager was
not making effective use of her employees who did not have a clear
understanding of what was expected of them.
Her employees thought their work was poorly planned, saw
themselves as overcontrolled, and reported that teamwork was poor.
The supervisor subsequently met with her employees to discuss
the Survey results and the action she needed to take to improve her
practices and the work unit’s performance.
After several
meetings the manager and her employees decided to adopt a
computer-based scheduling system which required each employee to
schedule and track his or her own progress after the manager set the
objectives and deadlines for their work.
The new scheduling system increased the interaction between the
manager and her employees and assisted everyone in the work unit to
work together more effectively. Teamwork
improved and the manager was seen as contributing strongly to the
achievement of desired results. The
group’s performance also improved significantly.
It is unlikely that these improvements would have occurred, if
the manager had not involved her employees in the change process.
Empowering employees
by involving them in the managers’ efforts to become better leaders
and mangers is much more likely to produce the leadership improvements
that are needed than the efforts of managers who try independently to
change their ineffective methods.
Empowered employees who are involved in the change process may
be their
manager’s best teachers.
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