Managing Subordinates -Managers'Role

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By. S.S.A. Zaidi.

Training & Development Consultant
Contact - 0091 9987644300

Managers' role is to achieve organizational objectives through subordinates. A subordinate is one who is subject to the authority or control of another. This yardstick applies to Managers as well. Thus, everyone working in an organization is a subordinate as well as a Manager / Supervisor. Managing Subordinates, therefore, means managing the organization. An organization is a group of people. People are the critical resource. Efficient management of other resources Money, Material, Machine etc., depends upon the People's Efficiency.

How this critical resource in the organization is acquired, trained, deployed, motivated, and rewarded is crucial to developing that Efficiency. The way Managers do things and the people who relate to each other indicate how efficiently the organization is functioning.

Each organization has a Vision i.e. what it wants to be or to achieve. Strategy - how this vision can be translated into reality, Structure - the way it is organized to implement the strategy, Systems - the way people in the organization plan, decide, control, monitor day-to-day operations, Staffing, and Skills - the way people are developed and utilized and the Style - the way things are done and the employees relate to each other; are the means to realize that vision.

Managers must, therefore, muster all the resources at their command to manage these elements in such a way that each reinforces the other to achieve the desired goal. Successful achievement involves more than taking the right decision. It involves Successful Implementation.?

Successful implementation needs the motivation and commitment of employees to perform better. Managers, therefore, need to focus on the development and management of that motivation and commitment in their subordinates.

cont?
Among the subordinates, there may be some Deadwoods. Deadwoods are non-performers / under performers. They lack motivation and commitment. They are like non-performing assets (NPAS). NPAS is a drain on the organizations? productivity and profitability. All efforts are made by the organization to convert these NPAS into Performing Assets; and if efforts fail, the provisions are made, and ultimately the assets are written off. Similarly, Managers should identify Deadwoods among their subordinates and provide them all opportunities to convert into Performers and if they fail, they should part company. No organization can afford to carry Deadwoods.

A very interesting and eye-opening finding of research carried out by Jean-Francois Manzoni and Jean-Louis Barsoux- Assistant Professor of Management and senior research fellow respectively (IVEY Management Services, March / April 2003) indicates, that the cause of under performance is not necessarily a lack of talent, but the very-and very wrong-behavior of Managers. Changing that behavior will enable lowly regarded subordinates to perform and produce.?

This wrong behavior of Managers is motivated by their assumptions that their subordinates do not like hard work, hate responsibility, need threats of punishment to perform. These assumptions could make sense in the era of Feudalism where workers did what they were ordered to do. This attitude in today's world is anathema.

In today's scenario, more than anything else, it is perhaps the mental and ego gratification that drives people to work hard and creatively. In other words, their motivation is in Self-Interest, so says Robert Town send the author of Further up the Organization?. Managers, therefore, need to manage themselves in terms of change in their attitudes, if they want to manage and develop the motivation of their subordinates.

The word "Motive" comes from the Latin root ?Move.? When we speak of the motivation of employees, we mean the factors which move them to behave as they do. These factors are Motives, the engines that energize and direct the behavior of employees. The behavior is generally directed towards the attainment of certain goals. When an employee leaves his seat and goes to drink a glass of water, he shows motivated behavior. We can say that ?Thirst? is the Motive that moves him to get a glass of water - i.e. goal

Water can be considered an ?Incentive? that satisfies the motive of thirst. Remember Incentive satisfies the Motive. So Motives are the Needs that move human beings in their day-to-day behavior.

The workplace can be seen as a place where employees come to satisfy their Motives. Managers need to find out what their subordinates need; what their Self-Interests are?

Based on that a scheme of reward and punishment could be designed and implemented for all levels of employees. Various jobs and the flow of work can be designed in such a manner that these provide incentives to employees. Remember it is divine policy as well to offer Rewards and Incentives to motivate human beings to do good deeds. The reward for good deeds is Heaven and better life hereafter. Punishment for bad deeds is ?Hell.? So, let us follow this divine policy in managing our subordinates as well.

To manage subordinates and develop motivation and commitment in them, Managers must;

Know that if they serve their subordinates and take care of them, they get Power. Power flows from people so they should use that power for their subordinates and not get glory and credit for themselves. They should refrain from being ?credit-stealing? bosses.
Believe in the personal and professional development of their subordinates, encourage them to take risks, make all of them feel involved, develop teamwork and morale, encourage them to talk freely at meetings, and focus on their individual development.
Utilize the existing creative potential in employees most optimally and recognize and implement their innovative ideas in the workplace environment. Try to reduce personal feelings of insecurity among their subordinates by helping them to develop self-confidence. Personal feelings of insecurity tend to block an employee's creativity on the job and tend to reduce general productivity and effectiveness.
Communicate Performance expectations to their subordinates. Managing is not just fixing targets for them.
Eliminate communication blockages. Managers must ensure that open, timely, and correct communication takes place.
Empower them. Give them the freedom to act but define in precise terms the limits to that freedom. It is only then the ?Accountability? can be enforced. No organization tolerates incompetence.
Show consistency in their judgments. They should always do what they say they will.
Not keep anything secret/confidential from their second-in-command. There will be very few items and that too occasionally that they need to keep to themselves, else most of the things Managers consider strictly private and confidential will see the light of the day.
Not play favorites. Be fair in dealings. Equity generates Trust and Morale.
Build up a reputation for reliability and dependability. They should not set standards for themselves different from those for others. Double standards are unhealthy.
Be resolver of the problems. They should not sweep problems under the carpet. Real problems need tackling.
Ensure that systems and procedures are in place so that the direction of subordinates is systematic and not left to chance.
Avoid such actions and directives as may create distrust or lack of confidence in their motives.
Accept employees' participation in management as an important instrument for better human relations.
Show interest in the welfare of their subordinates.
Raise the level of employee motivation, increase the readiness of subordinates to accept change, and improve the quality of managerial decisions.

Think about what they themselves expect from their superiors.

They would obviously expect:

i. Honesty, straightforwardness, and fairness in dealings.
ii. Involvement in and being kept informed about things that directly / indirectly concern them.
iii. An opportunity to express their point of view.
iv. Their views being considered sensibly and their opinions being sought.
and above all these, they would like their superiors to be people they can respect for their ability to make sensible decisions and for their consistency of judgment.

If this is what Managers? expectations are from their superiors, then their subordinates too would expect from them many of these considerations and justifiably so. Managers must respond positively to these expectations to establish their credibility.

Managing is not only getting the work done. Managing is communicating; managing is developing subordinates through work. If Managers can meet and manage these challenges, they will have a team of highly energized, motivated, and committed subordinates so crucial for an efficiently managed vibrant organization.
So dear managers are passion- igniters, and competence -appreciators and see the productivity of your organization going up and up.