One of the best reads I found recently on the Internet is a survey conducted last year by Netscape, which first confirmed that the number one reason people leave their job is because of a bad boss. The same survey went on to tell us that poorly lead work groups are 50 percent less productive and 44 percent less profitable for their business. And, this is true no matter how big or small your company. And, it’s pervasive.
People who work for bad bosses, therefore, cost their company twice as much in pay and benefits. So, if you’re paying someone, say, $50,000 a year, and they have a bad boss, you’re only getting $25,000 worth of productive work out of them. And, your profits are deeply affected as well.
Fundamentally, managers must develop the people leadership skills needed to create a healthy, rewarding environment for their employees. If not, they’ll end up costing their business high employee turnover, reduced productivity, and lower profits.
Here’s a very real example.
There once was a successful systems engineer at IBM who was promoted to manage a small team of IBMers who had the same specialty (software development) as he did. When considering their salaries, bonuses, and benefits, this was a million-dollar team.
The team was assigned to conduct a joint software development project with a large insurance customer. But, it didn’t take long for things to start going wrong. The new IBM manager began answering his own questions when he met with the combined team. When a member of the team produced a lengthy, technical report, the manager analyzed and criticized every word. When someone offered an idea to solve a problem, the manager immediately dismissed it as a bad idea. The manager wouldn’t let any of the IBMers speak when they met with customer executives.
This team was costing IBM a million dollars a year, but the team was having so many problems with their manager that the loss in productivity was effectively $500,000. Worse yet, the customer, displeased with the poor progress of the team, cancelled an order for a new computer that was to be part of the team’s project. The loss in profit to IBM was nearly $2 million a year.
So, IBM management analyzed the situation and had no choice but to reassign the manager to lead a different team dedicated to another insurance customer’s computer center operations. This customer was one of IBM’s largest, but its survey of IBM service was rated as one of the poorest.
The reassigned manager called a meeting of his new team. He walked into the room and was greeted by 26 concerned faces. His first words were, “I can’t manage this team.” He went on to explain that there was no way he could tell each of them how to do their job. His new team had vast experience in all aspects of computer center operations. So, each of them knew their job far better than he did. He said, “All I can do is give you a vision of what we need to accomplish, then get out of your way and let you do your job.” He then stated his vision; “We must do everything we can to help this customer be more successful.
From that moment on the manager listened to all the ideas that his team brought to him. He made all the changes they proposed. Instead of managing the people, he managed the business and let the people do their jobs.
Within a year the team turned the insurance company’s poor customer service rating around.
This is a very real story. I know because I was that manager.
The lessons learned for me were simple.
• Have a clear and precise vision for your team.
• Demonstrate respect for your subordinates all the time.
• Trust that the team members know their job better than you do.
• Be ready to help them when they ask for it.
• Listen to their ideas and proposals.
• Ask for a critique of your leadership performance.
• Be so busy that you cant get in anybody’s way
• Let them do their job.
In summary, bad bosses cost their companies millions of dollars each year. Improving their people leadership behavior will reduce employee turnover and increase productivity and profits for your company.
George Hathaway is the author of the book, “Leadership Secrets from the Executive Office.” He is a strategic partner with Sustainable Business Coaching in Enfield.
