Finding ways to help your managers be more effective can drive multi-level results for your business. Business leaders are always searching for ways to improve their reliability, dependability, and trust in all they do with their customers. One way to do this is to empower your managers and help them to lead your valuable workforce.
Begin by understanding each managers area of strength. These could include product and process knowledge, company values, goals, and objectives, leadership traits and people skills, as well as departmental results and staff development. You also want them to excel at group collaboration and problem solving.
Where are they proficient, and where do they (or you) think they need help? Identify those areas that they need to get better at and map out an improvement plan. If you both tackle this with the right amount of professionalism and emotional intelligence, it should prove to be a win-win experience. A byproduct of this is that they will have a higher level of self confidence in all they do.
Too often we focus on the product and process knowledge and assume that they can lead, motivate, and manage through difficult conversations with their staff. Don’t assume, and don’t leave these skills to chance.
The August 2022, PRINTING United Alliance Wages, Salaries, and Benefits Report went into detail on how effective managers can make the difference in employee engagement and retention.
The report goes on to say, “Multiple studies on the workplace have uncovered lack of career development as the top reason employees currently leave. Good managers have the power to turn that around with effective direction and communication. If companies want to retain a productive workforce, investing in managers and training them to be empathetic, human centered leaders is imperative in today’s work environment and is a cost that will reap long-term sustainability.”
I highly recommend the report and encourage you to read it cover to cover. Compare your established best practices with their findings and create the initiatives for change in your business.
In a recent post, Why You Should Develop Your Next Level Leadership Team, I mentioned that this training can be done in-house if you have the structure and staff to implement it, or you can utilize an outside resource. Many have turned to their payroll or HR services provider to bring in professional training offerings. I’ve seen these in the form of self-paced online training modules, all the way through to in-person training for small groups. Lean on the resources available to your business to provide the best possible outcome for your team.
Renewing your emphasis with your managers on staff development and departmental leadership. This can have a positive influence on morale, retention, as well as overall job performance. If you have experienced other ways to develop your next level leadership team, please add them in the comments or reach out to me to discuss. Good luck.
Mike Philie can help validate what’s working and what may need to change in your business. Changing the trajectory of a business is difficult to do while simultaneously operating the core competencies. Mike provides strategy and insight to owners and CEOs in the Graphic Communications Industry by providing direct and realistic assessments, not being afraid to voice the unpopular opinion and helping leaders navigate change through a common sense and practical approach. Learn more at www.philiegroup.com, LinkedIn or email at mphilie@philiegroup.com.
Originally published in Printing Impressions.
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