How not to be a bad manager!
23 August 2024
No one sets out to be a bad manager but it can easily happen!
Once promoted into management, it can be hard to stop getting involved in the doing. There’s often a strong desire to prove that you’re a boss who is still happy to get their hands dirty, but your focus now needs to be not on the job you once did and enjoyed, but in managing those who are doing that job.
How well you are managing your team reflects in how well they are performing so it is critical that you have a robust system in place to manage that performance.
There are a few golden rules when it comes to managing staff performance:
- Set clear goals that are specific and leave no room for misinterpretation, can be easily measured and are the right mix of realistic and ambitious. These goals should be clearly communicated and leave no doubt as to how they fit into the wider business strategy. Goals should also be relevant to the role the individual is undertaking. If your annual appraisals measure, say, innovation, give examples of what ‘being innovative’ means. For example, someone in an admin or finance role could demonstrate innovation by identifying new ways of working or suggest new processes that improve efficiencies or reduce the likelihood of error.
- Offer the carrot, not the stick. An environment where staff are constantly pulled up on mistakes and where managers don’t own up to their own failings is not conducive to the growth of the business. Staff who are encouraged to be open and honest and suggest ideas are far more likely to want to work hard for a business and stay for the long term.
- Give regular, constructive feedback: If feedback is only ever given during an annual appraisal, it becomes a big thing for both parties. Staff need to know throughout the year how they are doing so they can address any issues as they go along. The same goes for you – perhaps any disappointing performance is a result not of an individual’s lack of efforts but because of other factors within the business, for example lack of process or defined responsibility or accountability of staff members in other departments.
- Don’t favour one staff member over another! This is perhaps the hardest ‘rule’ of all to follow. It’s human nature to gravitate to some people and not to others and there will be some you share more interests with. It’s easy too to be biased towards someone who always goes the extra mile or is generally easier to work with. Don’t be afraid to praise the individual who is a consistently strong performer but be mindful that this doesn’t lead to favouritism.
- Show you’re taking performance management seriously. Whatever your approach to managing performance – whether it be monthly check-ins, quarterly reviews or annual appraisals – you need to demonstrate that a person’s progress really matters to you. Make sure you carve out appropriate time in your diary for any meeting, show you have prepared for it by coming along with your own notes, switch off your phone and laptop and take the time to listen intently. It’s important that both parties are open and honest if the process is to be a useful one.
- Don’t be afraid to tackle under-performance. A common bugbear in any team is where some are not pulling their weight as much as others. Any under-performance needs to be addressed early on by getting to the root causes, putting in the necessary support for improvement and taking steps – and being seen to take steps – if performance does not improve.
- Be clear on ‘development’. For some staff, development will be wanting to see a clear development path and how their exemplary performance in certain areas will be a springboard to promotion. For others, development is more about developing the skills to do today’s job, only better. There is no size fits all to career progression and some may not be invested in or want continual promotion. We all define success in different ways and an individual’s development plan should be tailored accordingly.
Interested in learning more?
Our series of fully subsidised leadership and management webinars and workshops offer some great tips.
- Your Guide to Performance Management, Rushcliffe Arena: 5 September.
- Building a High-Performance Team, Cromford Mills: 12 September.
- Getting Started with Leadership & Management, online: 26 September.
- Getting Started with HR Essentials: online, 15 October
