ClearRock

BOSTON - With hiring picking up this year, managers and executives have a renewed opportunity to correct some of the management shortcomings they've acquired due to recent years of being short-staffed, according to ClearRock, an executive coaching and outplacement firm headquartered in Boston.

Managers and executives have picked up some bad habits during the past few years because they frequently were doing the work of people whose jobs had been eliminated by downsizings, and were not replaced, said Anne Hawley Stevens, managing partner for ClearRock. "They didn't have the time or staff to try to correct some of these mistakes, and they just kept on making them. Now, there may be a few extra bodies to do some of the other things, so managers will have more time to actually manage people."

Among the bad habits and failings managers and executives should try to eliminate with this extra time are:

• Management By E-mail. "Short-staffed managers and executives have been trying to stretch their time and resources, and wherever possible, have been managing people by e-mail," said Greg Gostanian, managing partner for ClearRock. That's no substitute for the old "management by walking around" system that used to be so popular in the days before e-mail. "Management by e-mail creates barriers between managers and employees, and silos between departments. In addition to the benefits of engaging in face-to-face communication, it's good to get out of the office and just talk to people about how things are going," Gostanian added.
• 'My Door Is Always Open.' Despite what managers and executives think, employees do not always view this as an open invitation to just walk into their offices with problems and concerns, said Stevens. "This puts the burden on employees to point out problems, and employees usually don't like to bring bad news to their managers - even important things such as customer complaints and quality problems. It's a manager's job to find out what's going on." Some employees have also found their managers didn't have time for them, or paid them little attention when they did come into their offices. "It's not a very good time management system," said Stevens.
• Not Holding Regularly Scheduled Staff Meetings - Staff meetings are for more than informational purposes and keeping tabs on employees. "These are an excellent way of communicating things to staff that can't be adequately or properly addressed in memos and e-mails, and an outstanding forum for motivating employees," said Gostanian.
• Not Celebrating Successes. Recognition and reward need to be shared collectively in addition to with individual employees. Successes are often the result of group and individual endeavors. "Although the most common criticism against managers is they do not recognize and reward individual accomplishments, more and more organizations in the past few years have gotten away from doing this as a group, due to downsizings and staff reductions. Celebrating successes as a group sends two encouraging signals: that you recognize and value achievements, and you're not afraid to celebrate one success because there will be more forthcoming," said Stevens.
• Treating All Employees The Same. Although this may seem inequitable, all employees shouldn't be treated the same, said Gostanian. "Not everyone wants to be promoted into management, for example, and some people want to remain being good at their jobs without managing other people. Also, some people require less management than others - and some quite a bit more. Managers need to discover the desired career paths of their employees, as well as their individual management wants and needs."
• Not Asking For Help. For various reasons, many managers and executives don't like to ask employees for input, ideas, and other assistance. Some think this is a sign of weakness or being clueless - that a boss is not supposed to ask for help from those he or she manages. "Most employees actually like to be regarded as a resource and source of support, and desire recognition for their accomplishments. Managers have been so busy doing things done themselves in recent years that they have gotten out of the habit of asking for help, or haven't had anyone to help them," said Stevens.