Feature Products · Feature Article: Six Keys to Unlocking the Potential of Frontline Managers....
Transcript of Feature Products · Feature Article: Six Keys to Unlocking the Potential of Frontline Managers....
FROM BUD HANEY'S DESK Are you maximizing the potential of your
frontline managers?
Frontline managers have difficult jobs. They have to
know the business (better than their staff). They are
expected to supervise and coach their employees not
only on how to do their jobs, but how to do so with
their right attitude and behaviors. And they have to
be able to step into the breach in that inevitable
moment when a disgruntled customer utters the
words ―I’d like to speak to your manager.‖
Most businesses have gotten so large that there is a
considerable divide between the executive team and
frontline. Frontline staff perform different functions
depending on the industry: in retail they’re cashiers
and sales clerks; in healthcare, they’re triage nurses
and doctors and administrative staff; in travel
they’re flight attendants and reservationists; and in
the service sector, they’re call center staff.
Customers are demanding, and why shouldn’t they
be? If they’re willing to spend their money on your
product or service instead of patronizing your
competitors, they should have a pleasant experience
(or at least not have an unpleasant experience). And
if something goes wrong, the best companies have
frontline staff and managers who are trained and
skilled at fixing the situation, which can make or
break a customer for life.
Imagine being in the unfortunate position of being a
frontline manager at the stadium earlier this month
whose staff had to tell 400 ticket holders that they
couldn’t sit in seats they had paid for to watch the
Super Bowl. This situation is ripe as a case study in
so many things, but for a moment, consider the
skills and attributes needed to successfully weather
a similar situation in your business: empathetic and
understanding; confident, but not arrogant (or
panicky); informed and empowered.
Coach your frontline managers. Instill in them the
company’s values and remind them of the pivotal
role they play in representing the company to its
customers. Help them to be as efficient as possible
while empowering them with the flexibility to resolve
customer issues quickly and to their satisfaction.
Take a look at how your customers interact with
your business, especially your frontline staff and
managers. Are they an asset or a liability? This
month’s newsletter highlights the importance of
frontline managers and offers advice on developing
those in your organization.
Sincerely,
Bud Haney, President
Profiles International
From Bud Haney: Are you maximizing the
potential of your frontline managers?
Feature Article: Six Keys to Unlocking the
Potential of Frontline Managers
Feature Products: ProfileXT® and Profiles
Managerial Fit™
Case Study: Developing Successful Leaders
Announcements
Did You Know?
The effects of poor frontline management may be
particularly damaging at service companies, where
researchers have consistently detected a relationship
between the attitudes and behaviors of customer-
facing employees on the one hand, and customer
perception of service quality on the other.
In service industries, research has found that three
factors drive performance:
the work climate;
the ways teams act together and the ways that
things are done; and
the engagement, commitment, and satisfaction of
employees.
Leadership—particularly the quality of supervision
and the nature of the relationships between
supervisors and their teams—is crucial to
performance in each of these areas.
We have identified Six Keys to Unlocking the
Potential of Frontline Managers
1. Identify employees with the capability and
interest to be good managers by:
Using assessments to identify employees who
demonstrate the behaviors and interests that will
make them successful managers.
Helping managers understand the core behaviors,
capabilities, and preferences of the people they
manage so that they can adapt their
communication and management styles to get the
most from their people.
Helping managers develop the mindset that they
will be more successful if the people they manage
succeed. This helps managers become invested in
the success of each individual.
2. Help managers clarify their teams’ goals and
roles by:
Using these goals to create a personal
―dashboard‖ that helps the manager set his own
priorities that drive results. Require the manager
to update his goals weekly, and use his progress
to facilitate a coaching discussion. Finally, check
back with the manager on a periodic basis to
ensure that his priorities and the individuals on
his team are properly aligned.
Creating tools to help your managers
communicate these requirements and track
progress toward these goals. Seek direct input
from frontline employees in the form of employee
surveys and 360° management assessments to
determine if the message is getting through.
Finally, encourage open communication between
employees and their managers in order to clarify
job requirements and eliminate work that doesn’t
add sufficient value.
3. When helping managers better understand
the people they manage, consider these
points:
Human beings are complex creatures that can be
very hard for the average manager to read,
especially in the early stages of the working
relationship. Ironically, this is when the manager
needs the most help. A valid assessment process
can be very helpful for an organization to develop
a deeper and more objective understanding of its
people.
Helping a manager to understand his people’s
skills, behaviors, and interests helps him build on
his people’s strengths and mitigate their
weaknesses. It helps the manager communicate
better with the employee, zero in on the
employee’s most critical developmental needs,
and focus both informal coaching dialogue and
formal training and development investments in
the employee.
4. Help your managers understand themselves
and how they impact their people.
Management is all about people, and this requires
a high degree of self-awareness. Managers should
go through the same assessment process as their
employees in order to understand how their
innate behaviors, interests, and skills either
complement or hinder their personal interactions.
It is also extremely valuable for managers to
receive feedback from multiple constituents,
including their supervisors, peers, and
subordinates, to illuminate developmental needs,
misalignments, and other issues that may be
difficult to communicate openly under challenging
circumstances.
5. Don’t assume your managers know how or
even when to coach. These two action
steps can help:
Develop the fundamental coaching skills of your
managers, and develop a culture of coaching.
Help your manager understand his leadership
style and motivation. Many of us have a number
of key leadership qualities, but we still need
feedback so that we can build on our strengths
and fortify our weaknesses. In some cases where
it is clear that a manager really isn’t ready to
lead, the discovery process can help identify other
career options that are better suited to his style
and abilities.
FEATURE ARTICLE: Six Keys to Unlocking the Potential of Frontline Managers
FEATURE PRODUCTS: PROFILEXT® AND PROFILES MANAGERIAL FIT™
While the ProfileXT® (PXT) assessment is a
superior tool for measuring how well an individual
fits specific jobs in your organization and offers
many reports to assist with hiring, coaching, and
training your managers, we have other solutions to
help you get the most from your frontline
managers.
Profiles Managerial Fit™ (PMF) measures critical
aspects of compatibility between managers and
their employees. This report offers and in-depth
look at one’s approach to learning, as well as six
dimensions of compatibility with their manager: self
-assurance, conformity, optimism, decisiveness, self
-reliance, and objectivity.
Managers use this information for adapting their
styles in order to get the most from each employee;
improve communication; increase engagement,
satisfaction, and productivity; and reduce employee
turnover.
CASE STUDY
A large credit union system changed from a command control, tactical organization to one that develops
leaders at all levels with help from assessments. Making that change was difficult, not because managers did
not want it to work, but because they feared stirring the pot. ―There was a huge fear of the unknown,‖ the
recruiter said. They wanted to know what would come of seeking more information and involvement from
workers. Click here to read the full case study.*
* The case study file is available only through the HTML version of the newsletter.
6. Minimize administrative work to give
managers more time to develop their
people by:
Thinking very carefully about the administrative
tasks you assign to your frontline managers and
be sure that they add sufficient value. Consider
capturing fewer but more essential indicators.
Making the information easy to obtain so that
they aren’t spending too much time aggregating
and formatting spreadsheets and making
presentation decks look pretty.
Providing administrative support and either
investing in tools or simplifying the exercise so
that it can be completed in a very short period
of time.
Minimizing formal meeting times and
interruptions that are administrative in nature.
Leadership Charisma
Newest research shows that charisma is not just
something you are born with – it can be learned!
Interested in learning more about your Leadership Profile Strategies - 800-406-0087
Charisma? Give us a call TODAY! [email protected]
According to the Corporate Executive Board, nearly
60% of frontline managers underperform during
their first two years and more than 50% would
rather not manage people. Let us help you identify
the right people for your managerial positions, and
develop them to their full potential.
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