In this months ‘HR in 90 seconds…’ we bring you up to speed with the HR topic we could all learn from! We’ve selected articles and summarised a few learning points to help you stay up to speed with minimal effort!

Looking at the news from the last few weeks it seems that everyone is giving poor line managers a hard time….again! Let’s be honest, we have all experienced at least one (if not several) bad managers in our careers and it is not the first time that they have been in the spotlight.  There are a number of articles and podcasts on this topic so stay with us as we consider the effects of bad management on an organisation and how, as HR professionals, we can provide effective training and support for line managers to help avoid the rise of any ‘accidental managers’.

Bad Management and its Effect on Productivity ⚓︎

HR Magazine’s article – ‘Bad Management biggest contributor to low productivity’ came following a study for ADP (HR solutions organisation) which surveyed 1,300 employees across the UK. In brief the study found bad management (16%) to be the worst culprit for poor productivity, followed by inefficient systems and processes (15%) and staff shortages (13%).  HR Most Influential Hall of Fame Thinker Cary Cooper, said: “We’ve known for a long time that bad management will affect an employee’s output. This should be common sense; if an employee has a manager who motivates them, gives them opportunities, and gives them flexibility they’ll produce more. If an employee has a manager who doesn’t motivate them, and micromanages them, they’ll get poor results”.

The recent podcast from People Management (May 2018), ‘That HR Podcast – who manages managers?’, discusses what makes a good manager and gives us some suggestions on how to ensure that we don’t allow bad management to take hold. The podcast suggests that we need to ensure that we have systems, processes and policies in place which have good leadership principles anchored into them. We must then use these to support line managers and avoid putting people into roles where they become the ‘accidental manager’ not prepared or equipped to manage people.

Training Line Managers ⚓︎

The CIPD podcast, ‘Training Line Managers’ from June 2016, shows that this subject is not new. It gives some good insight from 3 different organisations along with some helpful tips. Including:

• building awareness of  identifying poor performers;
• remembering to hit the basics in leadership training including coaching, feedback, managing change and conflict;
• taking a non-unified but consistent approach in applying the training;
• keeping in mind the notion that there is a prevalence that ‘people management’ is not core to what line managers do they do but in fact a ‘side thing’;
• the use of ‘just in time learning’; and
• the use of team leader networks for sharing ideas and learning from your peer’s experience.

The podcast is only 17 minutes long, if you have some free time why not download it to your phone and listen on your commute. Here’s the link to the full version:

7 Top Tips for Managing Line Managers ⚓︎

Matthew Hamilton’s December 2016 article considers the line manager’s role as an essential position in terms of managing performance, inspiring teams, retaining talent and driving the business towards success.  He suggested that line managers are now dealing with more complex and inter-related people management issues on a daily basis than ever before.

Matthew asked the question: are we supporting and enabling our managers to take on these additional challenges or are organisations slowly walking towards some kind of line management level burnout? He gives us 7 tips for helping to ensure that line managers remain supported, valued, and resilient:

1. Put development at the heart of the role
2. Mentor for success
3. Encourage mindfulness and develop resilience
4. Allow greater Autonomy
5. Give valuable performance feedback
6. Support managers during difficult times
7. Turn you managers into Leaders

In order to pull these thoughts together we wanted to quote Associate Professor at Henley Business School, Charmi Patel. She said “If we want to reduce poor management we should make sure that they are receiving the coaching, education and personal development they need to understand exactly what makes a good manager.”

The Workplace and the World Cup 2018 ⚓︎

A final thing on what I am sure will be a talking point…the biggest supporting event of 2018 – the World Cup kicks off on Thursday 14th June. ACAS suggest a few things to consider:

• Planning ahead
• Taking a flexible approach
• Time off
• Sickness absence
• Websites and social networking
• Drinking or being under the influence at work

This is a useful article to help plan ahead if you are worried about the impact that the World Cup might have on staff productivity. It is well worth a few minutes of reading.

If you have seen any HR related articles you’d like to share with Legal-Island readers, drop a line to lynsey@legal-island.com