The questions I answer tend to be about hiring... firing... policy and procedures... and related topics. Often, the questions - mainly posted by those in management or supervisory roles - concern how to motivate people, how to find out what potential hires are capable of, what to do about under-performing workers, and the like.
The questions are usually asked by people who are doing their best to keep up with current thinking, often inspired by the latest business books. What my over 30 years of business and management experience tells me, though, is THAT is half the problem: One set of people at the office reads all the latest books, the other half never does!
Coming in to work brimming with great theories and concepts is all very well but, to be an effective manager, you need to step back and realize: many of those who report to you do not give a damn about the issues you hold most dear. Thinking: "Of course we all want to maximize returns" or "Driving down costs is our collective goal" or any number of other objectives you might care to mention, will leave you disappointed and likely very frustrated. Many rank and file workers do not give a damn about market penetration, don't know what emotional intelligence is and don't care, or go to sleep every time they hear the phrase "mission-critical".
Keeping a more realistic perspective on the workplace may help you to become a more pragmatic - and, in the long run, successful - manager. By all means go on reading the latest gospel to come in the form of a business book but don't subscribe to the ideas so heavily that you end up disillusioned when the great ideas don't pan out in practice as promised.
To look at how ideas are valuable as indicators but not as imperatives, consider how many companies got burned a few years ago by implementing supply-chain management systems. Or the sometimes mixed results from Sigma Six. Or any of a number of other conceptually driven programs.
A great many people out there are good workers but what they want is to have a defined set of tasks, show up, be allowed to perform them, then get paid and go home. They have lives and interests outside the office and, funnily enough, the people who take this approach probably have more work-life balance than those who are busy reading about how to re-invent the wheel that is business.
Some of the above may seem strange coming from someone who has written business books herself but, the difference in my books - I hope! - is that I try to be pragmatic and offer practical advice, not fancy theories. When you read my latest book, Other People's Problems, you'll be able to decide if I've managed to pull it off!For details, go to the link below.
http://www.lulu.com/content/paperback-book/other_peoples_problems/9268001
Copyright Deborah C. Sawyer
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