I am writing this before I read the L and D Connect Storify on how we support managers to develop staff, which will no doubt, be much more diverse than my reflections, from what I saw
of it last Friday morning (#ldinsight)
This is possibly the
leadership and learning question that ignites my passion the most. The issue
where I would derive the most satisfaction if I could see that my endeavours
and influence had made a positive contribution.
When trying to explain what good HR (in its broadest term)
looks like, I always say that one of the most critical things is the
development of good people managers and the creation of enabling, fair and
flexible HR frameworks so that they can get on with it skilfully - to the point
where HR departments would no longer be necessary…
Before moving into ‘HR’, well management development
actually, I spent 10 years as a mid range general manager. Although I completed
the theoretical qualification to be a health service manager, this really
didn’t cover anything practical, or anything on how to manage people on a day-to-day
basis. (I think the management module covered Taylor, Ford and the Hawthorn
Effect, with maybe a bit of McGregor thrown in, but it may as well have been
Peter Rabbit’s Mr McGregor for all the use it was. Back then, this was classroom-based
provision of theory and facts, with no reflective discussions or diaries, no application
to workplace situations and certainly no double loop learning.)
My general management roles also included budgetary
management, change management, facilities management (we managers were actually
on a rota to do safe food handling training for the annual staff mandatory
training), decommissioning services and re-commissioning new ones. I mainly
used my common sense and learned a lot about how not to do things from some of
the other managers I encountered. The greatest value from this was that I can
genuinely empathise with managers trying to juggle lots of different priorities
and strands to their work, and feeling frustrated by some of the processes they
have to follow. I too have experienced an HR function that was distant and
often appeared not to support managers who wanted to take definitive action. I
probably only saw them when we needed to have consultation meetings with staff,
or on my twice yearly trips to the darkened room of Workforce Planning.
Anyway, fast forward to senior roles in HR and L&D via
management and leadership development roles and a MSc dissertation on how top
NHS leaders got to where they were. This was mainly through their self
determination, drive, early access to stretch targets, involvement in new
project teams and most importantly,
through having developmental line managers.
I strongly believe that everyone deserves a developmental
line manager who has the time, space,
skills and desire to be developmental with their whole team. Depending on
what the team member wants (and needs – which may not be the same), this can be
stretch targets and preparation for promotion, helping them to remain up to
date in their current role, facilitating sideways moves, enabling broader
access to other teams and leaders etc. The opportunities and combinations
possible to achieve this are extensive and diverse.
For many managers, beleaguered by all of their other role
demands (as budget managers, performance managers, H&S managers, building
managers, customer service managers etc.) that can be a big ask. It can also be
a big ask at all levels of the organisation, where so many other priorities and
initiatives can get in the way.
This really is a classic case of the urgent getting in the
way of the important.
So who should take responsibility for supporting managers to
develop their staff?
L&D? HR? Leadership? Line managers themselves? Their
staff?
It’s probably all of the above. Taking time, space, skills and desire in turn, I am so tempted to turn
this into some sort of grid, but I won’t, as I think I would end up putting a
tick in every box. There are probably Venn diagram overlapping possibilities
here too…
Time. This is so
obvious. All of the above need to make the time, otherwise how can any
organisation ever say that people are their biggest asset? 3 or 4 years ago, I
set up a series of practical leadership workshops for new or newish middle
managers. We combined practical learning about how you manage a change within
your team for example – not just the theory (from their interviews for their
roles, they had that in abundance from their ILM 5 studies) – but how to
consult your staff for example, with practice and action learning sets in
between. This was popular and I was planning a new group and another for
aspiring managers, when all had to be halted because virtually all of my time
and that of my team was required to implement a massive government driven
change entailing all hands on deck in HR. So you could say I was guilty of
putting the urgent over the important myself. More recently, following the
change, we commissioned some specific leadership workshops and action learning
sets for a similar group, focussing on retaining a values based approach in a
commercial environment. This time, it was many of the middle managers who
simply could not find the time due to other demands. A reasonable number did
though, and they found the space
this gave to think and reflect really useful.
Space. I think I
actually mean ‘head space’ here – literally or virtually away from the hurly
burly. Not just for workshop attendance, but also for reading, networking,
individual reflection and the opportunity to try things out or take some risks in
a safe environment. Again a responsibility for all, as line managers are also members
of staff themselves. HR and L&D ought to be the professional source of
expertise to support the organisation in building this in, but this is much
more than that. It is deeply cultural and I believe HR and L&D have to
really ‘get’ the business in order to be effective in influencing this.
Skills. Again, so
obvious, but how do managers acquire and develop these skills? Are they natural
attributes? Are they trainable? (Cue - a whole library of leadership, mentoring
and coaching books on this.) I used common sense myself, and it wasn’t until
over 10 year later when I completed a Masters in HR Development that so much
made sense and fell into place. I don’t think that was good enough. The
capability of managers to develop staff was widely varied back then, and in my
experience has continued to be so ever since, everywhere I have worked. The
great managers tended to be those we barely heard from in HR, and whose staff
we barely heard from either, because they were doing such a good job, which was
borne out by other measures too (it wasn’t because their teams were
suppressed!) A major issue in the sectors in which I have worked has been where
fantastic professionals’ only way of being promoted is to become a manager, and
as many were commenting on the L and D Insight chat, this is a different skill
set. I think organisational leadership needs to be more cognisant of that, in
order to allow L&D and HR to design in how managers can gain the required
skills, to give time and space for practice and reflection, and a dignified way
of moving into something different, if they are just never going to get it.
Desire. I have
used this word deliberately, as it indicates a love of developing others,
rather than just needing to do this as part of the job. If a line manager of a
large or largish team of individuals has no passion (which may need to be
ignited) for their team’s development, then they should not be managing people.
Simple. But not so simple without the requisite time, the support in making
space available and the opportunity for those who desire this, or whose passion
is germinating, to learn and practice the skills required.
Image from thedailyquipple.com
