26/07/2016
Develop Your Management And Business Skills
What determines your leadership style?
What is clear is that the attitude, behaviour and mind-set of Senior Managers is crucial in developing staff engagement. So the first task for Senior Leaders must be to ensure all line managers are fully engaged themselves, and know how to engage their staff, and create the required culture.
They may need to evaluate and possibly change the way they manage, who they recruit, and the work environment.
They need to address the issue of company identity, mission and culture, and work hard to ensure that working at the company is perceived as aspiration. Managers, Leaders and Executives should be accessible to staff, perhaps with regular networking opportunities for all.
If line management are aware staff are not engaged they can invest time in talking to them, see how they can help. The culture should be that devoting management time to staff problems is a priority for everyone.
Perhaps new benefits can be added to the compensation package. Remember to recognize and reward success.
Line managers should chat daily to staff “how’s it going? “, “Everything OK? “They should establish that it is normal and usual for problems and difficulties to be aired and discussed. They should be encouraged to listen, to develop their interpersonal skills.
As well as listening to staff, management should engage with and listen to clients, customers, suppliers and partners. They all have a viewpoint and may be able to contribute to the strategy.
Good principles to observe
Leaders set the tone for the culture and engagement, so they must be fully engaged with the staff. The culture must be right, the correct people must be recruited, who will add to the culture and engagement and not detract from it. They must “fit in “
There must be an emotional commitment between the company leaders and the staff, so that staff engage with the company.
Staff must trust leaders, trust their motivation, their ability, and their leadership, and be confident without question that the leader is acting in the best interests of everyone at all times.
Top candidates will actively seek to work with a company or brand that excites and interests them, and that will offer them challenging work and a sense of achievement.
Make sure all social media channels are engagement friendly. This includes your website, and LinkedIn profile as well as Facebook, Google and Glass door.
The message must be clearly communicated frequently. Staff and potential recruits need to hear why they should want to work for you, why you are the best, how they will feel when they work for you.
Engagement demands open communication, clear goals, and well-understood reward systems.
Staff should be recognized at every opportunity. Recognize their successes, big and small, recognize their birthday, celebrate the birth of a child, and recognize holidays, personal achievements, and team goals reached.
The company will benefit from a social aspect. Get everyone involved in some charity work, go for a drink after work, have a company “family fun day”, provide a buffet lunch for everyone at the end of the month.
What do the World’s best companies do?
They try to understand what their employees think, by using tools such as social media and online forums, encouraging discussion and debate and giving employees a voice.
They create an open and inclusive culture .Google has kitchens offering free food and an on-site free laundry service. They value employee opinions and hire by committee.
They demonstrate their appreciation and thank staff.
They commit to open communication and listen to employee feedback.
They support career development with formal mentoring and professional development plans.
They encourage social interactions, offer a social dimension to work, engage in community service projects, strengthen relationships with staff, ensuring everyone feels connected.
They build a strong employment brand that encourages people to want to work there, even people outside the company know what the culture is like.
Engagement is not built in a day. It requires constant attention and maintenance from leaders all day, every day. It has to be part of the culture, it is not a bolt-on, and it is the essence of the company.
To some extent management style is an expression of personality, and a reflection of experiences and lessons learn. It describes the principles that underline the way the manager makes decisions and relates to their staff.
Like most things, if you study and understand the theory behind it, then you can make some deliberate adjustments to make your style a little different and more effective.
The Managers role is to motivate, inspire and lead others to achieve their targeted tasks. Their style is an important part of their performance and influences how their staff respond to them. If employees feel valued and motivated they will be more committed to their work, deliver a better performance, have higher morale and lower absenteeism rates.
What is the best style?
The management style that a person adopts is in itself a function of the culture and situation they work in, and the staff they have to manage.
Some staff , perhaps in a process situation , do not want to think for themselves or take responsibility and so they have to be managed in a certain way. Others say professionals, such as doctors or lawyers, will not expect to have someone micromanaging their work on a daily basis and will expect to make their own decisions.
In the same way, a manager who adopts one style in a certain situation, may slightly or even radically modify their style in response to another situation and set of employees.
What affects management style?
Management styles are also affected by cultural influences. For example Russia will have many more autocratic managers than say the USA, where the favoured style will be more democratic or consultative.
In some cultures, managers are generalists, rather than specialists, with their man management skills perceived as more important than the technical skills needed for a project, and the team make up will reflect this. The manager will have technical experts to advise them, but it is their responsibility to lead the team and get the best performance from them rather than be the technical expert.
In other cultures the technical expert will be the team leader, and the management skills will be considered less important .This will also influence management style.
So the leadership style is affected by a number of factors including the manager and their personality, the culture, the task to be achieved, and the staff and situations that are to be managed.
Management styles have evolved over the years as society and management theory evolve. An important objective for a private company at least, is to make a profit, but it is also now considered just as important to give employees job satisfaction, motivation and contentment, as they are recognized as a significant asset to the company.
