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Learning
to Manage
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Understanding that "Soft Skills" Can Be the Hardest of All
I have always had a talent for sales and promotion,
although the present economy has made that more
challenging. I have saved many organizations from the
brink of ruin and brought them to financial health.
So because I could make the company cash register sing
and create successful products and programs, guess what?
Like so many achievers and hard chargers, they promoted me
to management.
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K. Jack
Speer
President
The Delta Associates |
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My first journey into management could only be
described charitably as disastrous. My turnover rate was as dizzying
as a carnival ride. People couldn’t wait to get out of my
department, although by the organizational numbers, we had no
close competitor in terms of success. It discouraged me that I
spent so much time interviewing new job candidates, but I was
happy because I was achieving organizational goals. The clincher
was that one day my boss showed me into his office and closed
the door: "You know what, Jack?
Your public relations isn’t worth sh—t in this
department." |
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My reply reflected my management philosophy at the time
that was: all these people are here to back up my
brilliant over-achieving abilities.
I said, "Grady, what does my lack of popularity
matter? Our numbers are great!"
"It matters, because if your people skills don’t
get better, I’m going to fire you," shot back
Grady, never one to mince words. "I can’t have all
of your employees constantly in my office and running to
the board of directors. What people here think of you does
matter."
I was shocked and stunned, but I finally understood the
importance of the "soft skills."
What Senior Managers and CEOs Must Do to Lead a
Successful Revolution
When Jack Welch took over as CEO of GE, he was
determined to start a revolution. Any revolutionary
leader, he reasoned, seizes three power bases: the army
(accounting and control of money in the corporation), the
media (corporate communications), and the schools
(training). Few CEOs and members of senior management
understand these fundamentals. Training suffers from a
chronic lack of commitment and interest from senior
management.
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Training
Programs Have Been in Limbo for Embattled Companies—or
Off Corporate Radar Screens
Training is often thought of as a perk in times like
these, observes Kim Wolfe, HR Director for Slifer Designs
in Vale, Colorado.
Zareh Salmassian, of Advanced Fibre Communication in
Petaluma, California, observes that organizations
"often view training as they do research and
development." Both represent the future of the
company, but in times of economic crunch, they are the
first to go. When times get better, training is often the
last thing to be restored.
Training is Coming Back Faster Than the Economy
This economic recession—the first wild ride of the 21st
Century—is still very much in force, but training is coming
back faster than the economy. Organizations are realizing that
"doing more with less" does mean getting every
resource we can from people, and that only happens with
training.
Aryae Coopersmith, founder of Learning Synergies, says that,
although training is extremely important to high tech industries
in the Silicon Valley, where he is located, the economic
downtimes have made it difficult to invest in training. Senior
managers are now beginning to look at the necessity of retaining
their best people.
What Kind of Training Will Organizations Want—and Despise—in
the Upcoming Recovery?
Organizations want training that is based on a business
knowledge of their industry, and a specific knowledge of the
values and business goals of the company.
Training, quite frankly, can be career-catapulting,
life-changing or just plain bad. It can be inspiring and
insightful, or just plain silly and a waste of time.
Companies and CEOs now reject training that is based on
"the one idea that cures everything." Year after
year, some guru teaches that his or her one idea is the
solution to everything. According to them, you must reject
everything you know to be true and memorize their mantra.
Participants should throw out all previous insights they
have learned, along with their brains.
Trainers armed with magic markers and flip charts and
certified by movements that have more in common with crystal
balls and séances than businesses will not fair well in the
recovery.
We knew one such group who put teams into a room,
played weird music and told everyone to "share their inner
dialogue." They were to spill their guts to the group,
which wasn’t wise or a popular idea with the team. The group
wisely threw out the training group after the first day.
What is Essential in Training?
The training arenas that have held lasting merit over the
years are process, quality, customer service,
sales, team development, and interpersonal communication.
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A View of Training by Zareh
Salmassian, Advanced Fibre Communication
Most training seems to be tailored to
tactical teams and specific functions. In the
world of "do more with less"' one of
the first things that suffers a hard blow is
training -- of all sorts.
Next seems to be R&D spending (from my
experience) which, in a way, is similar to
training. That is to say, we are investing in
the future of the company. Often, by the time
there is an upturn in business, R&D and
training will be the last to get onto the
radar.
I look at training as a
"homeopathic" method of doing
business. Training may not qualify as a
"home run" with employees and/or
management but- it's the base runs that count.
Several benefits of training are often
overlooked. Employees perform better, knowing
that the corporation is not compromising
education for hard-dollar savings. The other side is
training in a cross-functional format. The side-bar conversations and
finding out neighboring functions'
concerns is not easily quantifiable. This
is one of the best ways I have
been able to learn how my job contributes
to the Corporate goals.
If training is a "homeopathic"
approach to doing business, then management
training is the low dosage of the above. This
training is more overlooked by most
corporations trusting managers themselves to
keep current on
these topics. Having a forum with other
managers from other industries may be worth investigating. |
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These powerful training ideas undeniably brought industry out of
the recession of the 1980s and made American industry
competitive again. Teambuilding and communication are key to
increasing group productivity.
Right now, American industry could get out of the bunker
mentality and soar high once again by returning to these
fundamentals.
The following are elements of a successful training program.
- Training must be associated with an ongoing program of
professional development with credits and a program of
graduation.
- Training must be underpinned with a philosophy that comes
directly from the mission, values, and financial objectives
of the company.
- Senior managers must regularly take part in delivering
some portion of training, even if it’s making the
introductory remarks and answering questions.
- Training must be based on a needs assessment generated by
managers within the company and benchmarked by industry. Shane
Flemming, of Empire Blue Medicare in Harrisburg,
Pennsylvania is head of the company’s extensive training
department. "My department coordinates a training needs
assessment on a yearly basis. It is an in-depth process that
requires a manager to drill down to the root cause of
performance issues in their departments." Training is
offered on the basis of the needs assessment.
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based on the following:
Proven business ideas and philosophies that flow from
experienced senior management. Senior management must
demonstrate a passion for training. Spending a few hours each
year in training, transferring the knowledge and skills of
senior management to the organization can have a huge positive
impact on the organization.
Training must be offered consistently over time. When
tough times hit an organization, training programs must take
budget cuts, as do all the other departments. At the same
time, to eliminate training is equivalent to turning off the
electricity in your house and burning your furniture in the
winter for heat.
Training must reflect real needs. Many of the ideas of
training gurus are the subject of derision within the
workforce, the butt of Dilbert cartoons, and deeply resented
as a waste of the employee’s time and the corporation’s
money. Training that is not immediately seen as useful should
be immediately eliminated.
Training professionals that have knowledge and experience
of business must be those who deliver training. Training
departments often hire trainers who are certified in a school
of thought, but who have never experienced the challenge and
frustration of leading a team. Trainers must have a background
knowledge of project management, budgeting and forecasting,
and all of the basic skills people in organizations must have.
Otherwise, their training will be a meaningless recitation,
and the most skilled in the group will see through it.
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