Have You “Got Their Back”?
Many of us will have
heard the phrase “I’ve got your back” (at least in films), but how many of our
staff feel that this is the case as far as being able to rely on our support
when things go wrong?
By this I don’t mean that we, as managers, have to fight for
our staff if our employer decides to downsize - that’s a decision “beyond our
pay grade”. We may succeed in retaining
those whom we know add value, but
some will (sadly) have to go. Equally,
if the staff concerned isn't performing and it’s affecting team morale, we have
to address the situation.
My focus lies more on how we ensure that our staff feel that
they can trust us to look after their
best interests (even if this means announcing at the Team Meeting that the
business has decided that it needs to downsize).
How often, for example, have we taken someone else’s side
against one of our reports even when we know that the action that the report
took was “right”? It’s important to give
the customer the impression that we’re looking out for their interests and that we value their business, but do it once
too-often, and we suddenly find decisions being passed up to us, falling morale
and an increase in customer
complaints due to low morale and lower service standards arising as a result.
Here’s a further example of having their back: giving them
credit for a job well done. This could
range from a “well done” in front of the others to a mention in the company
newsletter to financial reward. We show
them that we won’t take credit for their
achievements and efforts.
Following on from the example above of the underperforming
team member, we can show the team that we have their back and the back of the member concerned by addressing the issue. The
“underperformer” may not be aware that they’re underperforming, or may lack
training or other key support that will turn them into an effective member. They’ll welcome the opportunity to discuss it
and to improve things. If they’re simply
not ‘right”, then we can still have their back by supporting them as they
transfer into a different function that suits them better. We also gain a valuable ally, the respect of
our team and that of other teams.
There are plenty of examples that we can all think of: when
did you last feel that your manager really had your back, or when did you last
forget to cover one of your own team?
The other advantage of our team knowing that we have their
back is increased trust in us as a
manager. From a personal point of view,
I can count on the fingers of one hand the managers that I’ve trusted in my professional life. That had a direct impact on how much effort I
was prepared to put in on their behalf and therefore the quality of their
results.
I have spent more than half my life delivering change in different world markets from the most developed to “emerging” economies. With more than 20 years in international financial services around the world running different operations and lending businesses, I started my own Consultancy to offer solutions for improving performance, productivity and risk management. I work with individuals, small businesses, charities, quoted companies and academic institutions across the world. An international speaker, trainer, author and fund-raiser, I can be contacted by email . My website provides a full picture of my portfolio of services. For strategic questions that you should be asking yourself, follow me at @wkm610.
Labels: Leadership, Teamwork
posted by William Martin @ 09:03
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home