It is very difficult to create the perfect team, just as it is difficult to create a favourable environment when everything is going well in the workplace. And this is not always the case. But what do you do in situations where you have worked hard for a long time to make everything work as it should, but suddenly you are being thwarted, not by ordinary subordinates or specialists, but by lower-level managers?
Yes, a lot depends on them too, because they are the local authorities, the first face of the company and role models.
In this article, we will tell you what to do and how to react correctly to signals of negligent managers in the company structure.
Lack of incompetent executives
In management theory, managers at all levels play an important role in the life of any organisation. The point is that they are the ‘nerve cells’ if we consider the company as a system, or more precisely, as a living organism. Some nerve cells work closer to the executors (like nerve nodes and endings), some only control other managers (like a spinal cord), etc.
And if any one of these nodes stops performing its functions correctly, the whole organism, the whole system or a significant part of it will suffer.
For this reason, you should be extremely careful when selecting managers. They should be chosen not only on the basis of their professional skills and experience, but also on the basis of their breadth of vision and alignment with the ideological views and values of the company.
For some reason, many sources only consider problems in teams with a focus on the rank and file (lower-level professionals). However, it is not uncommon for the source of problems in a team to be the manager rather than the rank-and-file.
How problematic managers emerge in a company
It’s really quite simple:
- Often it’s a matter of mistakes or a complete lack of incoming checks. For example, if there are problems in the HR service’s algorithms: inexperienced specialists, unclear requirements for the position, lack of adequate means of assessing characteristics, some peculiarities of internal policy, and so on.
- Nepotism, people are appointed to management positions not because of their qualities, but because of acquaintances or family ties, political reasons and commitments (‘you to me, I to you’).
- Lack of suitable candidates. Yes, practice shows that there are no queues of experienced and truly qualified managers anywhere. Top managers and founders are therefore forced to fill the gaps in their staffing with what they have, not what they need.
Other less obvious reasons include situations where a manager has been offended by something (subordinates, superiors, clients, etc.), his or her personal motivation has been lost for various reasons, or the company has no or a poorly organised system for training managers and monitoring their professional development.
Many of these problems can be solved if you follow the advice we have given on recruitment — here.
Why subordinates may complain about their managers
We have already considered all the possible variants of conflict in the workplace — «Why do employees have conflicts?
Each of the reasons we have outlined is a reason to complain about the manager, as he is either the source of the conflicts or very closely connected to them (as the first representative of the company’s management).
Briefly listed:
- Careerism — the desire to eliminate a rival executive to take his or her place.
- Financial motives — salary, bonuses, incentives, other benefits.
- Fairness and deception issues.
- Inaccurate information, rumours or lack of awareness of an issue.
- Personal conflicts and grudges.
- Different views on the same issue.
- Wrong managerial policies — e.g. wrong style, excessive rigidity, arrogance, impunity, incompetence, etc.
- Too much routine and formalism.
Other reasons for poor managerial behaviour include excessive workloads, especially stress levels.
Is it necessary to collect feedback on the competence of managers?
A must! It is an important part of the system for improving team health and maintaining normal relations between all employees.
And the larger the company, the more detailed the business processes responsible for this control should be:
- It is desirable to periodically check the qualifications, satisfaction and stress levels of managers.
- Personal meetings with subordinate managers should be on the personal schedule of middle and top managers (once a week/month it is necessary to communicate with subordinate managers and find out their problems, needs, monitor their condition).
- All facts and problems in the work of managers at all levels should be recorded, so that business owners and senior managers have independent statistics on each of their subordinate team leaders.
- A training and development programme should be planned for one or two years. The professional development of managers should not be left to chance, because a low level of expertise is the first source of problems.
It is highly desirable to have direct feedback channels from the rank and file to the highest level of management (to the CEO or even to the owners, depending on the size of the company and the involvement of key people in the company’s operations). For example, an anonymous box for complaints and suggestions, a dedicated telephone number, an e-mail address and other means.
So what to do and how to respond when subordinates signal incompetence to their manager?
Firstly, to find out whether the complaint or complaints are true. This involves an impartial examination of all the facts in the complaint. Impartial’ is the key word here. There are always two sides to a conflict. And to determine which of them is right, you must not be guided by emotion or personal judgements about anyone. It is always necessary to rely only on logic, reason and concrete facts.
Secondly, motives related to personal conflicts and any financial reasons or benefits on the part of the complainant should be rejected. Personal disagreements should also be resolved, but on a case-by-case basis, depending on the situation.
Thirdly, it is necessary to identify systemic failures. Perhaps the manager is a newcomer and has not yet adapted to the workplace, perhaps he or she has problems with the choice of management style or knowledge of internal norms (including overt and unspoken traditions), lack of information to make the right decisions, little experience or gaps in training.
All this can be remedied by putting in place specific arrangements: general briefing, introduction of mentors (yes, managers should also have mentors to help lower the entry threshold and facilitate adaptation), internal training system, etc.
In many ways, this is all up to the HR department and the screening that should be done at the stage of selecting a candidate for a job. But not everything can be tested and checked. So mistakes can happen at any stage. It is 100% impossible to avoid them.
Systemic errors can also include the peculiarities of a manager’s temperament and behaviour. These are also extremely important when working in the field, but it is impossible to check the manager’s compatibility with future subordinates in advance. However, it is possible to gain some experience and significantly reduce the likelihood of failure due to character incompatibility. For example, it is possible to collect more characteristics from previous jobs (create a special questionnaire), conduct entrance personality tests, and more.
Worst case result of the situation analysis:
- The manager makes controversial and very damaging decisions for the company’s image and sales. There is no way to change this: neither training, nor personal discussions, nor motivation. In this case, it is better to get rid of the manager.
- He has unsuitable characteristics or skills — a complete incompatibility with his position. An option: offer another position that suits both parties. This would be an attempt to preserve human resources.
- A manager uses their official position for additional personal gain (taking bribes, conducting grey sales schemes potentially harmful to the company, etc.). This is not direct damage, but it can become so at any time. The way out is to terminate the contract. If there is good evidence, it is even possible to terminate the contract for cause.
In other situations, such as one-off (read ‘minor’) misdemeanours or mistakes, high levels of stress and workload, personal conflicts or disputes, it is better to understand the situation and try to correct it. One of the following options can be used: send the manager for additional training, fine them for the misdemeanour (if appropriate instruments of influence are available), give them a rest, etc.
As mentioned above, it will be extremely difficult to find a new and immediately suitable manager who meets all the requirements. Very often it is easier to teach and train from scratch, even if there are minor problems and mistakes along the way.
There is an interesting idea on this subject: to become an experienced manager, he should be given an important task and a team, fail at the task, break up the team, assemble a new one, solve the task, and so on in a circle — until enlightenment.
Instead of conclusions
If you receive signals of problems with a manager within the company, it is very important not to leave it unattended. A personal or workplace conflict can easily escalate into a more serious problem if subordinates report it to the authorities.
To ensure that nothing is forgotten or overlooked, you should automate the management process as much as possible, for example by using task managers, BPM systems and other relevant software. Such programmes will easily solve the problem of how to manage people.
