How do you become a 'born' manager?

We all know ‘born managers’ – people who, apparently effortlessly, facilitate us. Who seem stress-resistent yet dynamic and inspired. We also know how rare they are, and how difficult it is to put a finger on exactly how they do it.

Krauthammer Observatory is an annual research project. It makes the innate talent of so-called ‘born managers’ explicit – and replicable. You can find its topline findings below.

[1] Topline findings

2 burning platforms
For 3 years, we have been asking employees about the behaviour they seek and experience from their managers. And each year, 2 practices rank top of the list – in this order:

1. Help me see things differently, say 95% of employees.

If they have difficulties in executing a task, their manager should analyse the problem together with them, helping them to look at it in a new light.

Obvious? Apparently not, since only 52% of managers generally take this approach. 25% make their own analysis and then present it to the employee for agreement. 12% dictate a course of action without any prior analysis or consultation, and 8% simply demand an immediate solution.

If one thing is in surplus in the current climate, it is task difficulty. And if only half of employees are getting constructive help, the quality and speed of their solutions, and possible feelings of isolation in a time when teaming up is vital, constitute a powerful call for change.

 

2. Own up, say 88% of employees.

If a manager has made a mistake, s/he should accept full responsibility – spontaneously.

Undeniable, especially now? Yet only 43% of employees – surveyed in May 2009 - say their manager spontaneously accepts full responsibility for mistakes. 22% of managers prefer to admit the “mistake has been made” – without assuming responsibility. 26% dismiss the importance of the mistake or justify themselves. And 7% shift the blame onto others.

Admitting mistakes is like a trip to the dentist. Act regularly and early, to avoid later loss of teeth, extensive repair work, and bills you find it difficult to pay. We trust the business analogy is crashingly obvious...

[2] About the Observatory project

If you are familiar with Krauthammer’s research - and especially if you are one of the highly-valued people who took the time to respond - you will know that Krauthammer Observatory is an annual exercise, conducted consistently over the past 3 years. We have been adjusting and refining en route, on the basis of what the statistics tell us. How easy do respondents find it to answer? Do we share our image regarding ‘exemplary’ behaviour? What patterns lie beneath?

Every year we move further towards our goal – an insightful - yet pragmatic model. One which will guide line managers day to day.

[3] To access the full report

To open the full report, please click here.

If you responded to the survey, and did NOT ask to be unsubscribed, you will automatically receive a copy – with our sincere thanks.

*To open the documents in pdf, Adobe Acrobat Reader must be installed on your computer. If you do not have it, click on the icon below and download it for free.

All issues of Vision Research Briefing^[1]

Corporate societal responsibility 2009

Why 50% of employees think their company’s performance is failing…

4 findings from the survey

1. Employees are doing it for themselves - and are watching. People are actively engaged in ‘PSR’ or ‘personal societal responsibility’ – at home. Waste separation is most common – (65% practice it). And people are busy in the kitchen. 73% buy food because it is in season, 53% because locally sourced. However, only 13% deliberately choose non-meat. Still, 33% do select ‘fair trade’ or organic options. Only 18% choose environmentally-friendly transport or use green electricity. 35% make formal donations to NGO’s, however. And PSR practitioners are particularly critical of CSR.
2. A glass half empty and half full. Corporate performance is divided. Around 50% are operational or exemplary. The other 50% are not. Companies are most exemplary in the Human Resources area of People, (employment, recruitment and retention) - 39%. Only 21% are so when it comes to the Planet, however. And only 23%, when it comes to Profit.
3. Hungry for more. In all areas – People, Planet and Profit – there are serious gaps between the practice employees seek and experience. Less-experienced employees (younger?) are the most dissatisfied. Company size, or international status, has little effect on satisfaction levels.
4. What I really want... Excellence is most demanded in the People dimension. Specifically “training” (96% expect it systematically, with external trainers), and “fair labour agreements”, (79% want a “broad collective labour agreement giving space for individual solutions”). The next most-wanted practices concern the Planet: 60% of people want their company to practice the belief that “the economy and ecology are one, taking responsibility”, and Profit: 59% want it to practice the credo that “long-term competive advantage depends on the efficient use of resources”. The latter three practices – labour agreements, an integrated economy/ecology and the efficient use of resources, also display the biggest gaps per dimension...

[1] Vision Research Briefing is a Krauthammer publication. Three times per year, we perform research into trends which capture the interest of our market. One of the issues is 'Krauthammer Observatory' an annual survey exploring employee expectations and experiences of management behaviour. The research - and the insights we present - are now continuously exposed to the press.

*To open the documents in pdf, Adobe Acrobat Reader must be installed on your computer. If you do not have it, click on the icon below and download it for free.