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Evidence That Managers Make The Critical Difference
By David Lee
Employee
attitudes have a significant, measurable impact on the bottom line and managers
play a primary role on whether that impact is positive or negative.
These findings come out of research
involving 5,500 people from 29 professional service firms in 15 countries.
The study, conducted by David Maister, a former professor at the
·
Creating
a positive emotional climate has a significant bottom line impact.
·
Managers
play the most important role in making that happen.
Other findings from Maister’s
research:
·
Employee
attitudes actually drive financial results, not the other way around.
·
Fully
23 percent of all the variance in financial performance can be explained by the
degree to which employees agree with the statement, "We have an
uncompromising determination to achieve excellence in all that we do."
·
More
than 50 percent of all variance in profit performance can be explained by nine
managerial and organizational qualities or practices relating to management’s
interpersonal skills and the organization’s “attitudinal climate.”
Maister notes that his interviews with managers
and employees reveal that the keys to organizational success were not the
strategies or systems of the firm, but rather the character and skills
possessed by managers – whether they had integrity, “practiced what they
preached,” communicated effectively, took their role as coach and mentor
seriously, etc.
This research further supports the
landmark research conducted by the Gallup Organization involving over 2 million
people which shows that managers are the critical foundation for organizational
success.
Thus, once again we see that a company’s
success depends upon their management team’s ability to create an environment
where employees want to do a great job and have the support, guidance, and
resources to make that happen.
What Can You Do With This Information?
If you are the CEO or President:
1. Make sure all of your managers read this
article and understand that creating an optimal emotional environment makes a
huge difference on the bottom line.
2. Make sure your managers understand the
central role they play in employee attitude and performance – and therefore
organizational success.
3. Remember, you set the attitudinal tone of
your organization. Ask yourself: “Does the way I treat people lead to a
positive attitude in our organization?”
4. Ask yourself: “Do I model, by the way I
treat my direct reports, the way I want my managers to treat their direct
reports?”
5. Invest in your managers. Give them the
training and coaching they need to make sure the impact they have on employee
attitude and performance – and your bottom line - is a positive one.
If you are a manager at any level:
1. Recognize how much influence you have on
employee performance. It’s often easy, especially if you’re a front line
supervisor, to see all the organizational factors that you can’t control,
impacting on your job and your supervisees’ morale. Remember that this research,
along with the
2. Remember, employees treat customers the
way they are treated. The degree to which they demonstrate empathy, concern,
and an interest in providing great service is directly impacted by what they
see modeled by you, and how you treat them. Ask yourself: “Do I treat my direct
reports the way I want our people to treat our customers?” “Do I show the kind
of service attitude to my direct reports that I want them to show toward our
customers?”
3. Think about how you would like to have
yourself as a manager. Ask yourself “Do I treat my direct reports with the same
degree of respect and consideration with which I want to be treated?”
4. Learn more about what Emotional Safety
means, why it plays such a huge role in your success as a manager, and how to
help others feel more Emotionally Safe when dealing with you. The more
Emotionally Safe you are for others, the more you can unleash their desire, and
even passion, to do a great job.
5. Learn more about human nature, what
motivates and what de-motivates people. The more you understand human nature,
the more you will be able to create an environment where employees have a great
attitude and a positive impact on the bottom line.
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About the Author: David Lee is a
consultant, speaker, and executive coach. The founder of HumanNature@Work, he has worked with organizations and
presented at conferences throughout
For More Information:
David Lee, President
HumanNature@Work
P.O. Box 430
Bar Mills, Maine 04004
Tel: 207-929-3344
E-mail: info@HumanNatureAtWork.com