Leadership and management are critical to business success. It’s always easy to spot a business where the management are ineffective in leading and guiding the company towards a positive outcome. Oftentimes, you see a new CEO come into the company, set idealistic new goals, but then fail to back that up with guidance or support that the team need to implement their plan successfully. As a result, so many strategic initiatives fail before they even get off the ground.
Let’s look deeper as to why effective management is so important to a business.
Does the Company Have the Right Leaders in Place?
Is it right thinking to promote a top sales staff member to lead the team when the current head of department is retiring? The answer is, it depends. Bringing in top sales numbers for the quarter is not necessarily a strong indicator that the employee has the right training or education to be a great leader or manager. While they may already have the respect of the other salespeople because of their track record, managing a team requires a completely different set of skills.
For companies that believe in their employees and wish to encourage them to mature into management positions, it’s worth considering sponsoring an employee to take an online MS in Management. This is a master’s level program in management that’s completed in just 16 months. It will provide a graduate with the knowledge and skill set to manage and inspire their team in equal measure.
What Direction Is the Company Going?
Companies need direction. Without knowing what the goals of the business are and how they are going to be achieved, the likelihood of achieving them is slim.
It is up to the CEO and the managers of each department to execute the company’s plan to grow the business and resolve business issues as they arise. A solid process is required to follow through with regular meetings to track progress and make quick adjustments to ensure the right results. Line managers can then set new objectives and tasks for their staff to complete that support the objectives of the business.
Do You Understand What Employees Want?
A manager who’s distant from their employees and hasn’t connected with them on a basic level is doing them a disservice. Without having a proper sense of what employees’ individual challenges are, the manager is going to be less capable of producing alternative solutions or finding temporary workarounds.
While pure intellect is inherently useful, emotional intelligence should never be ignored. It can provide better insights into creating a conducive work environment, to be compassionate when real-world problems arise, and to show that we’re all human. No action plan for the company or the department will be fully realized unless the human factor is properly considered.
By adopting a practice of training and promoting staff from within, employees feel that there are opportunities to grow at the company. It also encourages greater cooperation with management when substantial changes are required to sustain or grow the business.
