Five Characteristics of Talented Managers

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Five Characteristics of Talented Managers

Great managers can fix broken performance management
systems
Chris Groscurth

Published: 07/14/2015
Globally, companies are scrambling to reengineer their performance management processes.
Unfortunately, many of these initiatives have the wrong priorities.
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Too many leaders rely on convoluted human resources processes and rigid rating systems that are
time-consuming and disengaging for managers and employees. Although its important to evaluate
performance, leaders must understand that excellent performance management requires more than
metrics.
To be effective, performance management requires streamlined processes, accurate and efficient
metrics, andthe frequently overlooked factorhighly talented managers. Gallups extensive
research and analysis, reported in State of the American Manager: Analytics and Advice for
Leaders, reveals that companies that hire managers based on their talent for the role realize a 48percent increase in profitability, a 22-percent increase in productivity, a 30-percent increase in
employee engagement scores, a 17-percent increase in customer engagement scores, and a 19percent decrease in turnover.
Because talented managers have a knack for leading, motivating, and developing others, they
engage their employees and achieve strong outcomes. Great managers can overcome a broken
performance management process. For leaders seeking to revitalize their approach, manager talent
is a good place to start.
To find great managers who can overhaul a broken performance management system, leaders first
need to understand what these managers are made of, and what they are doing right. Here's how
great managers deliver performance.
Great managers are innately talented in five specific dimensions. The top-performing
managers Gallup has studied come from different regions and different industries, but they all
share a similar set of inherent talents. Gallup describes and assesses these traits using five talent
dimensions:
Motivation. High-talent managers challenge themselves and their teams to continually improve

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and deliver distinguished performance.

Assertiveness. High-talent managers overcome challenges, adversities, and resistance.
Accountability. High-talent managers ultimately assume responsibility for their teams
performance and create the structure and processes to help their teams deliver on expectations.
Relationships. High-talent managers build a positive, engaging work environment where their
teams create strong relationships with one another and with clients.
Decision-making. High-talent managers solve the many complex issues and problems inherent
to the role by thinking ahead, planning for contingencies, balancing competing interests, and
taking an analytical approach.
The experience and skills managers have accumulated are important, but their innate talentsthe
naturally recurring patterns in the way they think, feel, and behavemore accurately predict
performance. High talent in managers is linked to individual and organizational outcomes,
including increased employee engagement, productivity, and profitability.
Great managers build engagement through strengths-based development. To help employees
reach their full potential, great managers tend to take a strengths-based approach. The majority of
managers with high talent (61%) say they leverage and develop their employees strengths or
positive characteristics when managing, compared with just 5 percent who say that they correct
employees weaknesses or negative characteristics.
Gallup has found that building employees strengths is a far more effective approach than trying to
improve their weaknesses. When employees know and use their strengths, they are more engaged,
have higher performance outcomes, and are less likely to leave their company.

Great managers foster high performance by motivating and caring. The best managers
understand and relate to employees inherent human motivations. They build genuine relationships
and demonstrate that they carenot just about employees work lives but about their personal

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lives as well. Employees who feel they can talk to their manager about anything, or that their
manager invests in them as people, are more likely to be engaged than their co-workers who dont
strongly agree with these statements.
For great managers, the crucial soft aspects of management come naturally, helping them
connect with and motivate their employees. By getting to know their team members as people
first, they take into account each employees unique qualities while managing toward high
performance.
Great managers engage in ongoing performance management activities. Sustained high
performance requires regular work on the managers part. These are some specific activities great
managers make a habit of doing:
Goal setting. Employee performance goals should align with business strategies at all levels.
Great managers set and tailor goals with individual employeesbuilding ownership for
organizational objectives among team members. Gallup recently found that 69 percent of
employees who strongly agree that their manager helps them set performance goals are engaged,
compared with 8-percent engagement among employees who strongly disagree with the statement.
Reliable and meaningful communication. Employees want their managers to be open and
approachable. Consistent communication helps employees feel safe and supported, and it builds a
productive workplace in which people feel comfortable enough to experiment, to challenge, to
share information, and to support one another. Great managers ensure healthy communication,
which is a behavior that fosters engagement. Employees whose managers meet regularly with
them are almost three times as likely to be engaged as employees whose managers dont meet with
them regularly.
Frequent discussions about responsibilities and accountability. Employees require more than
a written job description; they need to completely understand their role and how it aligns with
others work, particularly during times of change. Although helping employees understand their
responsibilities might seem easy, it takes talent to do it right. Great managers dont just tell
employees whats expected of them. They also frequently talk with employees about their
responsibilities and progress. Instead of saving performance conversations for annual reviews,
they provide ongoing feedback, which engages employees. Gallup analysis from 2013 shows that
50 percent of employees who strongly agree that their manager holds them accountable for
performance were engaged, compared with 3 percent who strongly disagree.
Clearly, great managers have it in their power to take their teams performance to new heights. For
effective performance management, organizations need these high-talent managers and their
performance-driving practices.
Copyright 2015 by Gallup Inc. All rights reserved. The content is used with permission;
however, Gallup retains all rights of republication.

About The Author

Chris Groscurth
Chris Groscurth, Ph.D., senior practice consultant, is an expert in leadership effectiveness,
individual and team assessment, and organizational development at Gallup.

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Source URL (retrieved on 07/18/2015): http://www.qualitydigest.com/inside/quality-insidercolumn/071415-five-characteristics-talented-managers.html

Links:
[1] http://www.gallup.com/services/182138/state-american-manager.aspx
[2] http://www.gallup.com/businessjournal/183098/report-separates-great-managers-rest.aspx?
utm_source=ALL_GBJ_HEADLINES&utm_medium=topic&utm_campaign=tiles
[3] http://www.gallup.com/businessjournal/182378/one-people-possess-talent-manage.aspx?
utm_source=ALL_GBJ_HEADLINES&utm_medium=topic&utm_campaign=tiles
[4] http://www.gallup.com/businessjournal/182321/employees-lot-managers.aspx
[5] http://www.gallup.com/businessjournal/183770/great-managers-fix-broken-performancemanagement-systems.aspx?utm_source=WWWV7HP&utm_medium=topic&utm_campaign=tiles

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