While an effective manager can help propel you through the ranks, an ineffective one may end up costing you your career if you don't get out in time...
Although talented employees may join a company, evidence suggests that if they depart prematurely it is often their immediate managers they leave, not the organisation itself. So convinced is one Seattle-based company of the importance that managers play in the general happiness and productivity of its employees, that it created a “no jerks allowed” rule. An unorthodox approach, true, but one that has helped the firm secure a place in the “100 Best Companies to Work For” list every year for the past five years.
“Employees will often join a company because of an attractive package or the prospects for career growth within the firm or industry,” agrees Mark O'Reilly, Managing Director of Astbury Marsden for the Asia Pacific region. “How long they remain with that company, and how effectively they perform while they are there, more often than not comes down to how well they are managed and how strong the relationship with their immediate manager is.”
But what exactly makes a bad manager bad? According to Philip le Roux, an actuarial consultant for a leading financial advisory firm in the City, it is a host of small things that add up rather than one or two dominating traits. For him, however, confusing communication is the biggest culprit. “A good manager needs to guide you through exactly what you need to do if you want to achieve success in your role,” he explains. “Don’t tell me that a report must be top notch without explaining exactly what ‘top notch’ means or how we will measure it. Everybody’s idea of success is different.” Le Roux adds that his most competent boss was one who excelled more in his understanding of people than his actual knowledge of the job.
For Susan Smythe (not her real name), a former project manager at an international banking group, it was the general chipping away at her self-esteem that eventually caused her to leave her job. “There wasn’t any physical violence or bodily injuries, but under the surface the damage was obvious,” she says. In the months before Smythe finally resigned, the communication she received from her manager had been reduced to curt self-protecting emails and meetings with unnecessary witnesses, while incessant secretive discussions between the manager and her cronies took place in plain sight of the team.
In addition to ambiguity and an undermining mentality, bad managers also unnecessarily waste time on coordinating and correcting the team according to O'Reilly, instead of concentrating on helping team members grow. “Managers often make the mistake of focusing on controlling employees, micromanaging them and criticising their efforts,” he explains. “By including constructive support and encouragement in your approach, it is possible to achieve far more. It also appeals a great deal more to employees.”
People who are well managed are likely to overlook their employer's shortcomings. Those who work under an ineffective manager, however, are less productive, less content and more likely to leave the company. Sadly, if your career is limited by a poisonous and limiting manager-employee relationship and your pleas fall on deaf ears, moving on might well be the only way to deal with that. If you don’t, it could cost you your career.
Source: People Leave Managers… Not Organizations; Tate, White & Impact Achievement Group
Eight characteristics of a good manager:
1. Communicates performance expectations clearly to everybody involved
2. Gives employees access to the resources they require to do their job right
3. Frees people up to make a difference by focussing on what they do best
4. Recognises team members for their contributions and efforts
5. Makes everybody feel cared about as an individual
6. Helps people feel like they have a meaningful participation at work
7. Encourages employees to grow and develop
8. Gives employees responsibility and trusts them to get on with the task
Eight characteristics of bad managers:
1. Has clear favourites and doesn’t maintain neutrality
2. Is slow to make decisions and often makes a U-turn on them
3. Lacks the emotional intelligence to deal with difficult situations sensitively
4. Is a bad listener and lacks general people skills
5. Doles out assignments but personally doesn’t take any on
6. Is quick to criticise but slow to praise good efforts
7. Undermines team morale by focusing on personal objectives instead of the team’s
8. Is reluctant to transfer skills for fear of training a replacement