There’s more to the boss debate than just horrible bosses

So, are horrible bosses the reason why so many of our workers are heading out of New Zealand?  This is what Dr Rhema Vaithianathan, Associate Professor of Economics at Auckland University would have us believe (Sunday Star Times, 7 August 2011).

We certainly can attest to the horrible bosses and, yes, some of our brightest and best are deciding that they don’t need to work for these managers.  They see quitting New Zealand as one option to escape these bosses who are, more seriously, barriers to the growth of our economy.

But we have been told this before and over many years.  We have the data to back this up.  And the rhetoric coming from our Prime Minister does not necessarily reflect the reality on the ground.  Talking up the economy will not make it better; it will not make our companies perform better – not while ‘horrible bosses’ rule.

And it gets worse.  The solution most often proposed – more training.  TRAINING WILL NOT FIX A PROBLEM THAT HAS BEEN YET TO BE DIAGNOSED FOR ITS REAL CAUSE. Millions are spent on Leadership Development programmes in this country and yet we still have ‘horrible bosses’.

Dr Vaithianathan suggests that poor recruitment processes and lack of the ability to manage people are the key problems with our managers.  She is closer to the truth.  So why are people choosing training above searching for the real problem – because it’s easy.  Send somebody away to a course and expect them to come back fixed!

If data is needed then we need to look no further than a report done in 2009 for Ministry of Economic Development, the Treasury, Department of Labour and Ministry of Trade and Enterprise on the state of manufacturing companies in New Zealand.  The results of the survey of 152 medium to large manufacturing firms were to describe our managers as ‘average to middling’ by global standards.  “Management practices in New Zealand manufacturing firms rank tenth among seventeen countries that have participated in the research.”  And again, people management emerges as the weakest area where New Zealand companies trail most behind global best practice.  “Management of human capital through attracting, developing and retaining talent is where most attention is required from both corporate leaders and public policy.”

HOW MUCH MORE DATA DO WE NEED?

Let’s stop clucking our tongues and occupying television and talk back radio time talking about it.  Let’s do something.  Those of us who work in this field KNOW how bad it is.  We know the drain it places on our productivity and economy.  We can testify to the truth of the statistics with anecdotal evidence.

The genesis of the problem is most often the wrong person being appointed to the wrong job.  It may be the best motor mechanic or scientist being appointed to a leadership role without any diagnosis of their ability to effectively perform in that role.  New Zealand most often does not have a strong technical career path thus ambitious, technically skilled people have few career choices other than to go down the management path.  This requires them to acquire a different set of skills but first they need to be assessed for their suitability for a leadership role.  Here are some tips that may be helpful in reducing the damage done by incompetent bosses.

1. When appointing, apply a multi-faceted and robust selection process.  This will include behavioral event interview, assessment (usually psychometric), reference checking at the very least.  Red2Green has a well proven recruitment process that has achieved huge benefits for our clients.
2. If you already believe you have a wrong person in a job – first diagnose where the problem is.  This can take the form of 360 degree feedback and/or psychometric assessment.   Look at what can be done to mitigate the damage in the situation.
3. If the person is measurably proven not to be able to perform the leadership role, then consultation and negotiation of a change in job needs to take place.  There is a legal framework for doing this.
4. If the diagnosis confirms that training would fix the problem, it must be targeted to the skills that are going to bring the largest return on investment.  And there should be an expectation that the person will need to settle into using the new skills on return to the workplace.  Training is not a miracle cure so don’t expect the trainee to come back fixed – give them time to practice their newly learned skills.

For more information on how to resolve the manager/leader problem in your organization, contact:

Shirley Tracy, Director, Red2Green Workplace Enablers

(04) 476 2108 or (027 242 3199) e: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it