Tweet

What Can Be Changed In Management To Improve Bottom Line Results

Guest post by: Terri Levine

Article Overview: It is easy to pass blame down the line when things don't go right and profits suffer, and often blame is passed up the line to upper management where the buck stops. The truth is middle management is every bit as responsible.

What Can Be Changed In Management To Improve Bottom Line Results

Change is inevitable, and it becomes necessary when companies are struggling with low productivity, profitability and poor morale. In such an environment, you might think employees would embrace an "out with the old, in with the new" culture, but instead, when change is introduced into the workplace there is often a degree of resistance, anxiety and sometimes even ridicule of the new methodologies.

People equate change with difficulty, hardship, and something to be feared, especially if they have experienced job losses, demotions or other circumstances that have caused upset in the past. They react with suspicion or derision and do not give their full support, especially if previous attempts have met with failure and resulted in bad experiences. They become accustomed to failure and lose faith. This is where open communication is so important and it starts right at the very top.

If you don't have the full support and understanding from those in key management positions, any organizational changes being made are going to be thwart with difficulties and very possibly doomed to failure. Leaders must be seen to be in control and walk their talk. If all employees are expected to listen to and support their managers, they must see that those higher up, such as the CEO, likewise are in full support of the managers. It is up to CEO's and Presidents to champion the cause and ensure their managerial teams are also in full support, so that it can filter down through the ranks smoothly and be more readily accepted at other levels in the organization.

• Don't just hand a list of problems and preferred outcomes or objectives to a managerial team and expect them to understand and be able to go ahead and get to work on it. They, too, need guidelines and guidance, reassurance, and training. Let's not forget that many Managers get to where they are through natural progression up the corporate ladder, climbing their way on their years of experience. But this doesn't mean they know everything they should know about being an effective Manager. Take, for example, a Sales Manager who has worked his way up the ranks in an organization and knows everything there is to know about the company's products and services and the way they do business with their customers, and knows everything there is to know about sales and marketing. Unfortunately, he knows nothing about handling employees and as a result his department suffers high staff turnover, low morale and low productivity, and therefore, low profits. This brilliant Sales Manager knows everything he needs for his job in a Sales environment, except how to be a "Manager" of his people resources.

• All the brilliant change plans in the world will fail if those who are responsible for the action have no idea what they are doing and possibly, don't believe in what they are doing. So the first step is ensuring the managerial teams understand what changes are being made and why, and what outcomes are being sought and why. They then need training in the best methodologies for introducing the new systems to their own departments. This requires a whole set of skills many managers lack, simply because it has not been something they have been taught before. This includes people skills, communication skills, and negotiating skills. Many senior level managers may not be willing to admit they are lacking in these areas and may not even voluntarily come forward for free training to assist them. It may well be up to the company to require all senior level managers to attend set training sessions to ensure all understand what is required of them and assist them to achieve their goals.

• Even if changes are not being introduced, Managers who want to improve the bottom line results of their departments need these same set of skills. It is a well known fact that a happy workforce is a productive workforce. Happy workers who enjoy a high morale and feel good about their employer take more pride in their work and wish to see "their" company succeed. They look after the customers better. They take less sick leave. They find more efficient ways of doing things. They participate more. They work harder. They feel like the company is "their" company and take care of it accordingly. They are more open to new ideas and more readily accept changes because their faith and belief in their organization is healthy and strong. This is good news for any company's bottom line.

• The Manager in charge of this type of positive workforce is one who knows how to listen to his staff. He respects his staff and their abilities. He asks his staff for their input and promotes a team spirit. He cares about the individuals in his department and realizes that their individual success in a team environment results in success for the company. He knows how to handle trouble-makers and grizzlers and convert them into happy, productive employees. He understands the process of coaching and mentoring those in his care to produce the best results. He is clear with his instructions, and does not play the Dictator role. He does not waste his time looking over shoulders and micro-managing his department. Instead, he is available for his staff to bring challenges to for discussion and resolution. Having matched the right people to the right job, this Manager can let his employees get on with doing what they do best and everyone is happy. This Manager builds his staff up and doesn't knock them down. He focuses on what IS working and builds on existing strengths. Everyone feels respected and appreciated in this environment, resulting in a high level of productivity and profitability.

• Learning to listen, observe, trust, guide and coach employees is not something that miraculously occurs when somebody is promoted to a Managerial position. (Remember our Sales Manager example.) It is up to the Company to assist their new Managers by providing training for them enabling them to be effective Coach-Mentor-Managers. Too often, when a department is in trouble, blame is laid at the departmental Manager or Supervisor's door. Perhaps there are times when it is justified, however, there is no excuse for a company putting somebody in a position of authority when they are ill equipped to handle it. The company must provide the tools necessary for every employee to do his job and this includes their managerial staff. If an individual is considered so worthy of promotion to oversee a particular department or project, the company should ensure this individual is equipped to manage all aspects of his new job confidently. This will be a recurring problem until organizations realize that managing people is not a natural ability inherited with a managerial title. Resources are available to train Organizational management teams, and often, all it takes is a phone call to put it into action.

When all is said and done, a company's bottom line relies heavily on the employees who make up the "company". Miserable, unhappy and poorly trained workers and managers produce miserable results. Happy, well trained workers and managers are more productive and fruitful in their endeavors, creating successful and prosperous companies.

Related Articles
  Sales Training, without supporting Sales Management Training,
  Break Away Marketing
  Bad Things Happen When You Leave it Up to Your Sales People
  Business success is all about sales.
  Management Development Secrets - Think About What You Learn
  How Are Your People-Management Skills?
  Alpha – Beta – Theta of Food Costing
  Communicating for Success!
  Simple Strategy Plan
  Increasing Sales Results through Appropriate Behaviour
  Management Priorities - Where Clear Focus Is The Vital Challenge
  Questions that Make Money
  Let Go of What You Cannot Control to Increase Sales & Reduce Stress
  The Triple Bottom Line and Talent Mangement
  Becoming lean and mean
  How To Become A Leader.
  Bad Bosses Are Reflection of Bad Management Are Bad Leaders and Are Bad for Business Profits
  Sales Performance Management-How to Get More Sales with Fewer People
  How to Write a Results-Oriented Job Description
  Jesus Christ, A Great Leader To Lead Us From Darkness To Divine Light

Article Tags: leadership, management, productivity, profitability



Related Forum Posts
No B.S. Time Management - A great book I read on Time Management is No B.S. Time Management for Entrepreneurs by Dan Kennedy.
Re: Web Business Podcast is LIVE! :) - Bottom of each post would be good. That way they either already listened to the podcast or they have decided they aren't going to, and might click the ads.
Site after-posting problems? - Don't know if this is happening to me alone, or to everyone, but every time I post a message, instead of my message coming up after a few seconds, I get this error message: Failed sending email :: PHP :: DEBUG MODE Line : 235 File : emailer.php
Re: What I Enjoyed Reading This Week - Oct 14 - I really enjoyed the Improve your vision with an app article in the New Scientist. I don't wear glasses and think a lot of people cripple their vision by wearing specs from an early age instead of exercising their eyes... Nice to see someone has developed an ap that will help.
profit line - I recommended Profit Line to one of my clients and they were not 100% satisfied with the service. Apparently one of the profit line people got a parking ticket while serving my client and then charged them for it. I haven't heard the other side of the story yet but the fact that I recommended them and it didn't work out makes me reluctant to recommend them again.


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

4 Steps To Hypnotize Your Business Prospects

Unharnessing Creativity in Business

3 Health Insurance Misconceptions

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.