News24 Columnists
Missed a News24 Column? Click here to read past columns from some of News24's finest.
Sport24 Columnists
Missing your favourite Sport24 Columnists? Click here to read the latest views from Sports24.
Search News24
     Columnists : Chris Moerdyk Get News24 on your mobile Terms & conditions 
Homepage
South Africa
Africa
World
Sport
Entertainment
Sci-Tech
Finance
Health
Galleries
 
SA Politics
Zimbabwe
Aids Focus
More...
 
MyNews24
Columnists
Sports Columnists
Feedback
 
National Lottery
UK Lottery
Travel
Competitions
Horoscopes
TV Guides
Classifieds
Food
 
Sudoku
Aces High
Silly Solitaire
Word Cube
Make 24
Golf Solitaire
Battleship
More games
 
Stidy
The Biggish Five
Treknet
 
Newsletters
Weather

Cape Town:
18-23°C

Durban:
24-33°C

Johannesburg:
15-25°C

Weather Page

Traffic
Gauteng KwaZulu-Natal Eastern Cape Western Cape
All regions
Indicators
Rand/$ 9.6500
Rand/£ 14.6900
Rand/€ 13.2500
Gold/oz $854.95
Gold Mining 2290.80
+0.59%
All-share index 22241.44
-2.10%
 
Subscribe and win!
Become a Women24 subscriber and get in line to WIN, WIN, WIN!

 
Afrikaans
English
 

Battling to manage?
17/11/2008 08:51  - (SA)  

Want to know more?
Answerit can help.

Chris Moerdyk

Ask anyone in business what business is all about and the answer you will invariably get back will be "people".

Why is it then, that so many companies invest fortunes in things like machinery and technology but a relative pittance on developing people?

Beats me.

Perhaps the answer lies in asking those same people just what is so hell-fire important about people? I wouldn't be surprised if the answer was; "well, we can't run the business without them". In other words, yes business is about people but in the sense of a necessary evil and not a precious and productive asset.

Even companies that do recognise the value of people and do indeed plough a lot of money into developing them, find out that somehow all that training isn't resulting in increased productivity at all.

The reason for this, I believe, is because any form of training needs to be implemented and sustained by managers. And the trouble is that managers often feel they don't need any form of training themselves. Being a highly successful employee does not mean one is automatically going to be a successful manager.

The thing is, if managers don't get training then all the employee training in the world isn't going to be worth a damn. And by manager I mean anyone who is in charge of anyone else, even if it is only one solitary soul.

Being a manager is more than just having the authority to give orders, kick butt and sweat over budgets. It is the key position in any company.

Lower performance

But, don't take my word for it, let's have look at what an expert had to say about basic management fundamentals forty years ago and which apply to South Africa today more than ever before as we try desperately to fend off global competition and the results of deregulation. Not to mention a chronic management skills shortage

At the time, J Sterling Livingston was professor of business administration at Harvard Business School.

He kicks off with this analogy; "The difference between a lady and a flower girl is not how she behaves but how she is treated." He was using My Fair Lady as an example and Eliza Doolittle's observation that Professor Higgins would always treat her as a flower girl no matter how cultured she became.

That's the trouble, says Livingston; "most managers, like professor Higgins unintentionally treat their subordinates in a way that leads to lower performance."

And here's something close to my heart. An inexperienced or untrained manager can be identified as someone who never says "well done", who never gives an underling a pat on the back, but rather harps on an on about what is wrong.

And the completely ineffectual manager is the one of not only complains all the time but who goes on and on about how many other people have told him what a bad job his employee is doing. This manager can be identified quite easily because he never admits to who did the complaining.

As Livingston says; "Damaged egos lead to behaviour that invariably increases the probability of failure.

My way

Another dead giveaway in identifying an untrained manager is the boss who insists on everything being done his way, even to the point of fabricating complaints about his employee. Almost the old military technique of lambasting greenhorn recruits with criticism until their self-confidence is reduced to the point where they just do anything they're told. Hardly motivational.

"Clearly the way managers treat subordinates," says Livingston, "and not the way they organise them, is the key to high expectations and high productivity.

"Managerial expectations," he continues, "must pass the test of reality before they can be translated into performance."

Here comes the kicker, the most dangerous trap any manager can fall into. My interpretation of Livingston's fascinating paper, is that the most destructive manager is the guy who keeps convincing himself and anyone who will care to listen to him, that inadequacies are the fault of subordinates and never himself.

How to identify those guys? Easy, they're the one's who very rarely feed back information to their underlings, unless its negative and then they do it through a third party for all sorts of strange reasons, not the least of all is a kind of sadistic form of one-upmanship.

For some warped reason they hold out on employees believing that in this way they can retain some sort of advantage or demonstrate who's the boss.

Scars

Livingston closes his argument with; "If managers are unskilled, they leave scars on the careers of young people, cut deeply into their self-esteem and distort their image of themselves as human beings."

Sage advice from 40 years ago, and as valid today as the most contemporary of management techniques.

How often do we hear people today saying; "Wow ! I get up every morning feeling great and I just can't wait to get to work - it's all just so exciting"?

Not often, and the majority of those we do hear saying that are either kidding us or kidding themselves.

We don't hear too much of this in South Africa because the level of manager skills - as distinct from management skills - is particularly low by world standards and hardly surprising given the massive brain drain from the country.

Giving a talk on managerial motivation the other day someone asked me what advice I could give to a manager if I only had ten seconds in which to do it.

Fortunately I had been tipped off about this question and was able to presented this carefully researched, not to mention rehearsed, ad-lib: Anyone who is serious about being a manager should get up every morning determined to motivate every single member of his staff to get up the next morning saying; "I'm feeling great - I just can't wait to get to work - it's all so exciting..."

Send your comments to Chris.

Disclaimer: News24 encourages freedom of speech and the expression of diverse views. The views of columnists published on News24 are therefore their own and do not necessarily represent the views of News24. News24 editors reserve the right to edit or delete any and all comments received.

- News24



What is this?
Yahoo Digg Del.icio.us Facebook Brought to you by OUTsurance Car Insurance
 
News24 Headlines on your Facebook profile News24 on mobile  


 
     
  reality! ! ! !
17/11/2008 09:32
A leader or a manager needs to lead his/her staff to lead themselves and employees needs someone who can make them succesful in their employment,and they are those who hummer their staff to the drains. - Silo's
 
  Do not play the boss!
17/11/2008 09:35
Is my first rule in "Managing" my business. They are not your "underlings" and not least important. Empower them to manage the business in their respective roles, accept responsibility for their actions and pay them as much as you can afford, according to their output & company profit. After all, the business belongs to everyone that works there. The "Boss" should not be the fat cat and the staff the beggars.That way you very seldom loose manpower or skills, because staff turnover is about zero. - TB
 
  How to lose staff...
17/11/2008 09:38
My manager has got to be the most negative and de-motivating person I have ever met. I enjoy the work I do but find the negative atmosphere impossible at times. She tells everyone that they are stupid, and yells at her staff before finding out the situation. It really makes harmony at work very difficult. But she's been getting away with it for years... - Anonymous
 
  Amen
17/11/2008 09:40
Hi Chris, Couldn't agree with you more. The best managers invariably have an MBA in my experience of 10 years+. Management is not about being in charge and the boss, it is letting go of your own importance and making others shine. Management is about facilitating the success of others and putting yourself last. This DOES NOT HAPPEN in SA!! In SA being a manager is seen as a means of having power, of being in control of others, an alternative form of Viagra! - Deon
 
  Do not play the boss!
17/11/2008 09:42
Is my first rule in "Managing" my business. They are not your "underlings" and not least important. Empower them to manage the business in their respective roles, accept responsibility for their actions and pay them as much as you can afford, according to their output & company profit. After all, the business belongs to everyone that works there. The "Boss" should not be the fat cat and the staff the beggars.That way you very seldom loose manpower or skills, because staff turnover is about zero. - TB
 
  management skills?
17/11/2008 09:57
Appointing managers is largely regulated by the BEE requirements. Good managers are confident in the work they are responsible for = "come through the ranks". The have the nack to deal with people. BEE bypasses these key requirements. Employees are often like naughty children, trying to take short cuts. The good manager can bring the horses to the water but not make them drink!! - Benzo
 
  Destructive managing
17/11/2008 10:11
Fantastic and very insightful article. Having worked for many managers and being a manager recently, the biggest mistake you can make (as mentioned above) is to always criticise and never provide subordinates with a framework where their confidence soars and they feel a lack of heirarchy. My personal feeling is that the insecurity of most managers is the biggest problem currently faced and never gets addressed while employee after employee leaves. Most managers get away with murder! - Paul
 
  Management ....
17/11/2008 10:25
"A manager co-ordinates the efforts of employees to attain the given target" Without your employees, the work cannot be achieved, however a good manager can co-ordinate their efforts to maximum group achievement. Rewarding staff does not have to be a financial one, a simple thank you for a good job done works wonders for the employee's self esteem. - kd
 
  Managers
17/11/2008 10:38
Most managers are poor communicators and they will always blame someone for thier mistakes. Companies have this tendency of promoting people who lack skills into managerial positions and surbodinates are expected bare the brant. - Thokozani
 
  You sooo describe my boss...(m)
17/11/2008 10:42
i.e. never give credit but always have complaints gathered from people who can't be named! And he always takes the credit but never the blame. Guess what, boss, I'm onto you... - JK
 
  Leaders vs managers
17/11/2008 10:46
I think Chris, the problem is people in SA are simly just trying to be amangers and not leaders. Whereas you might have good management and planning skills, a true leader will know how to inspire the best in their individuals and that should be instead what companies need to look for, not just good managers... - Sandelk
 
  OWNERSHIP
17/11/2008 10:55
Imagine we all owned part of the companies we work for. You will have voting rights, share in profits and have an interest in the company's success but also be held accountable for failure and other irresponsible acts. The whole dynamic between labour and capitalists, employee vs. manager, etc. will change. Owning the company you work for is the only real solution. And Benzo, there is an important distinction between Employment Equity and BEE. If you feel so strongly about it you should know. - Louis
 
  Very True
17/11/2008 11:40
Most managers are like this and it ius better for them to go all the relevant training that they send us to go to. Mine will tell me that He is not my baby sitter and I fail to understand why I do have a manager if I can't ask for guidance from Him especially the young black guys they think they Owners of these companies whereas they are just employed just like me. Do you have any advise that you can give me tio cope under this situation? - Bujo
 
  TRAINING
17/11/2008 11:40
It is very important that companies not only train the managers, when they do train, but the staff also. Managers will go for training not quite related to their current job because it looks good on their CV. My hubby is in the training field and not a lot of companies are willing to invest money in training their staff. They are however interested in the money their staff are making for them. - Amia
 
  Academic cr@p
17/11/2008 11:47
Have worked internationally. Stuff like trained supervision in management principles is non-existant in practice. It is high-task/low-people. It is up-or-out. Globally firms are under pressure - mr. nice guy is an unaffordable luxury. - Sentinel
 
  So true
17/11/2008 11:56
The BEE issue has given us too many managers without the experience and skills, and therefore those with skills are overloaded and leaving the country in droves. I experienced one of those managers on a course I gave, kept telling peole you do it my way or make a lot of tea. Insecure and incompetent idiot wht get promotion beacuse he blows his own trumpet to executives. - melanie
 
  I'll always be the flower girl
17/11/2008 12:20
I am kinda lucky in the sense that my manager pats me on the back every now and again. but then, she is always very quick to critisize. and if you did something wrong in the past, they always keep checking up on you. Even if it was something silly like a typing error. For the first 2 years in my position, I got absolutely no guidence and I learned to do things my way. Now, I need to be checked up on. The thing about being treated like a flower girl - I can definitely relate!! - Amber
 
  Excellent
17/11/2008 12:20
Excellent Chris! because of our complete lack of management skills in this country I have had two terrible line managers that never took responsibility for there screw ups and never had anything good to say to the staff that they were 'supposed' to manage. Both companies have subsequently lost almost there entire staff contingent, including me. - Tim
 
  Yip
17/11/2008 12:40
You normally find that females make the worst managers, especially in SA, whereby they are picked purely for EE purposes. I have had first hand experience of this - Former S.African
 
  Academics not really best
17/11/2008 12:45
In my long work experience, I find the person with the qualifications, is not always your best manager. Often it the person who has build himself up in the company and understands how it works and was in the position of his sub-ordinates, so he knows where they are coming from. A good manager, needs to be a good leader. Furthermore, some people are just not good with other people and no amount of training changes that. These people are a liability in management as theur teams fall apart. - Mark T
 
  POOR MANAGEMENT
17/11/2008 12:46
I worked under an untrained manager while expecting my 1st child,how I survived is anither story.when I went for my maternity I told myself that I'd be mad to return there again.fortunately I got another job and it was goodbye Mr. pathetic Manager.You can imagine what I wrote on my resignation letter.I found out later from a former colleage that he and his supervisors where sent for training.The company could have been a pleasure to work at if management had respect & appreciation for employees - Nthatuwa
 
  Great article- so true
17/11/2008 13:00
An insightful article. It is so true that many companies have lost sight of their most important assets, people.I think managers should be more people focused and an important part of the selection process for choosing managers should be that they(the potential managers) should value human resources and know how to work with and motivate employees. Excellent article! - Renee
 
     
This comments facility is now closed.
 
 
 


About us | Advertise | Contact us | Job opportunities | Press Releases | Site map

Back to top
 Jobs
Management Accountant
Gauteng - Johannesburg
Pharmaceutical / Biotechnology
Chip and spry foreman
South Africa
Building / Construction / Skilled Trades
Safety officer
South Africa
Building / Construction / Skilled Trades
Cobol Developer
Gauteng
IT / Telecomms
Linux Specialist
Gauteng
IT / Telecomms
 Sponsored links
Life Insurance
Car Insurance
UK Lottery
First for Women
Your Homeloan
Bid or Buy
Medical Aid
Education
Loans & Credit Cards
Compare Quotes
Life Insurance for Women
Car Servicing & Repair