Do You Need Good Managers?

A nice assertion

“Teams who rate their manager highly do better”. I don’t have any data that proves it, but it sounds like common sense. I am, however, always a little wary of common sense, so lets refine that assertion and go with something more concrete.

A grounded assertion

“People leave bad managers”. According to a Gallup survey of over 7,000 people the number one reason for leaving a job is a bad manager. Staff turnover is expensive, both in terms of recruitment costs and lost knowledge.

Yes, you need good managers.

What makes a good manager?

Google decided to find out. They have a department called “people analytics” who trawled through thousands of documents to see what they could discover. They looked at performance reviews, 360 degree feedback, hiring notes and productivity assessments.

Eventually the analysts came back with a list of 8 features of a good boss. They are, in order of importance:

1. They’re good coaches.
2. They empower their team and don’t micro-manage.
3. They express interest in their team members’ success and personal well-being.
4. They’re productive and results oriented.
5. They’re good communicators and they listen to the team.
6. They help employees with career development.
7. They have a clear vision and strategy for the team.
8. They have key technical skills that help them advise the team.

Tell me something I don’t know

It is an interesting but not terribly startling list.

The only thought-provoking point is that the “hard” capabilities of strategy and technical skills are at the bottom. Employees clearly like space to make their own decisions and not managers telling them what to do.

Other than that it is the same list that any H.R. professional could trot out over a cup of tea.

The list misses a big point

If the analysis was robust (and I assume it was) Google had to know who their good and bad managers were. The only way they could have done that is by collecting honest (and therefore presumably anonymous) feedback from all of their staff about all of their managers.

How many organisations routinely collect that information?

How many H.R. departments can hand on heart say they have the data that shows who their good managers are. I don’t mean employee satisfaction surveys or assessments from the top. I mean cold hard anonymous staff feedback.

I have worked for lots of organisations who are very keen on performance managing their staff from above. But vanishingly few who performance manage their managers from below.

If you want good managers…

The first step is to find out if you have any, and the only people who can tell you are your staff.

Perhaps you could ask.

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Image by 红岗 郑