Why Managers Fail?

Ashutosh Sharma, General Manager-Corporate HR, DFPCL

Why Bother?
Business today has many expectations from HR
Be a strategic partner
Improve employee productivity
Improve employee competency
Reduce employee turn-over
Reduce the number of safety incidents

Directly Related to Employee Engagement

Employee Engagement: Key Success Factor

Percentage of the Indian

Workforce that is

Actively engaged
Not engaged
Actively disengaged
Globally, only 13% are engaged

Cost of
Disengagement

$550 Billion a
year in lost
productivity

Heart
attacks are
20% higher
on Monday
mornings

Mind These Numbers!

Organizations fail up to 82% of the times in naming whom they call the Manager Study
by Gallup
75% of the individuals say that their Manager is the biggest source of stress in their lives
American Psychological Organization
Only 15% Organizations in Asia and North America feel that they have enough managers
in their pipeline to take on higher leadership roles HBR Article Hang on to Your High
Potentials

WHY IS BEING A MANAGER SUCH A HELLUVA JOB?

Why Do Managers Fail?

REASON No. 1: Overlooking An

Important Criterion in Selection

The Missing Ingredient

EI
Its EI that
Differentiates
Good Managers
from Bad!

IQ
(Threshold IQ 120 or so)

IQ

Just 1 in 10 persons
possess managerial
talent
- Gallup Study

EI

(Emotional Intelligence)

How Emotional Intelligence Helps

Self Awareness
Self aware leaders understand their strengths and weaknesses

They are in touch with their emotions

Self Regulation
They respond not react to situations
They manage stress well

Understanding Others Emotional States

They are empathetic
They listen well

Managing Relationships
They invest in relationships build trust
They work on development of their subordinates

20%

9%

Hay Group Data of

17000 Managers
Shows How Poorly
Managers Fare at
Emotional
Intelligence

22%

INTERPERSONAL SKILLS
HOW DO MANAGERS FARE?

31%

How Do Managers Fare?

S E LF A WA R E N E S S

E M PATHY

I NFLUE NCE

CO NFLI CT
M ANAGE M E NT

Source: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20120327005180/en#.VbXzOPmqqko

What We No
Know
Wonder We Hear These!

Source:
https://www.peterberry.
com.au/files/hogan_whi
te_papers/what_we_kno
w_about_leadership.pdf

Women Leaders Fare Much Better than Men

Women are Naturally Better at Leadership in Todays Context
Masculine Values
Domination, Aggression
Ambition, Competition
Winning, Assertiveness
Focus, Results
Order, Discipline
Structure, Discernment
Strength, Ruthlessness

Feminine Values
Compassion, Empathy
Gentleness, Inclusion
Nurturing, Caring
Cooperation, Openness
Creativity, Relationships
Trust, Vulnerability
Harmony, Win-Win

Source: http://www.consciouscompanymagazine.com/blogs/press/44014337-feminine-values-thesecret-ingredient-in-leadership

HRs Role?
Hire people with higher EI
Dont promote people just because:
They perform well in their current role
They appear to deserve it because of their functional competence, loyalty, or
sincerity

1 in 10 people possesses natural managerial talent Identify them

2 in 10 people possess some basic characteristics of managerial
talent develop them
Source: https://hbr.org/2014/03/why-good-managers-are-so-rare/

REASON No. 2: Misunderstanding

Human Nature

Skinnerian Approach
Use Punishment and Rewards to
Drive Desirable Results
Carrot and Stick Policy

Herzberg Called it KITA Approach

Kick in the A**
Underlying Assumptions:
People dislike work. Theyd be happy when theyre off work. You need to push them to work.
They also work for rewards.

How Effective Are Rewards???

CROWDING OUT EFFECT

Rewards can sap meaning out of an activity

They can reduce motivation to work in their absence

Experiment

Two Groups

Reward Group: Reward for playing with Markers

No Reward Group: No Reward for playing with Markers

Experiment

Reward Turned
Fun into Effort

Lepper, Greene, & Nisbett, 1973

How Effective Is Punishment?

Child Care Facility

Experiments In Israel

Imposed Fine of approx. $2

for parents who came after
1600 hrs to pick up their kids

How Effective Is Punishment?

Crowding Out
Effect Again!
Penalty Justified
Late Coming
Source: Uri Gneezy and Aldo Rustichini, A Fine is a Price, Journal of Legal Studies, vol. XXIX ( January 2000)

Punishments Dont Change People

Research says that
Focus on hopes and
dreams improves
performance
Focus on the Positive

Maintain a Positivity
Ratio of 4:1

Dont Rewards and Punishments

Improve Focus?

Imagine Yourself in This Situation

Not a good situation

to think about
anything but survival
NEGATIVE FOCUS
It helps you survive but
not to thrive
-Richard Boyatzis

Rewards and Punishments A Dangerous

Mix for Creativity and Innovation
Interest

Boredom

Rewards and Punishments A Dangerous

Mix for Creativity and Innovation

Anxiety and Fear

The Human Nature Redefined

People Seek These:
Competency
Autonomy

Intrinsic Motivation

Relatedness

They Will Even Pay for These Things!

VOCATION VACATION

Remember, Tom Sawyer?

People Can Even Pay to
Work!

GALLUP WORLD POLL

Meaningful work is the number
one driver of happiness

HRs Role: Help Your Managers Inspire

Employees

Source: Engaging Your Employees Is Good, but Dont Stop There, HBR, December 2015

Reason No. 3:
Misunderstanding The Nature of
Managing Teams

Being a Manager Means:

Authority and Freedom to Make things Happen

Power due to position

Structure, Defined roles and responsibilities Logical and Rational
Process

Control over subordinates work

Or, Does It?

Reference: Becoming A Manager, Linda Hill

Freedom & Authority?

Youve To Respond to Demands from Various Quarters Customers,

Seniors, Peers, and Subordinates

Power Due to Position?

You Got to Win Their Trust!
No Body Listens to You Because Youre the Manager!

E F F E C T I VE
C O M M U N I C AT I O N

AB I L I T Y T O M AK E
D E C I SI O NS

I N T E G RI T Y

42%

48%

OPENNESS

49%

53%

70%

WHAT DO PEOPLE LOOK FOR BEFORE TRUSTING YOU

COMPETENCE IN
THE ROLE

Source: https://www.i-l-m.com/About-ILM/Research-programme/Research-reports/trust-and-integrity

Structure, Defined roles and responsibilities Logical

and Rational Process?
The Process is not Rational Its
Emotional
It involves Hopes and Dreams
Positive focus helps people be more
creative, innovative and committed

It involves intangible threats and

apprehensions
Leaders are Dealers in Hope; Vision is Their Currency
- Napoleon Bonaparte

Control over Subordinates Work?

Controlling Doesnt Get Commitment
People like Autonomy They wont do
your bidding

Command and Control

to
Ask and Inspire

Importance of Autonomy

1977: An Experiment Carried Out at Nursing Homes

One Group of Residents Given Control Over Their Surroundings

One Group of Residents had Everything Decided for Them
The Residents in the First Group Remained Healthier and Lived Longer Than The Second Group

Freedom to Choose is very Important for Well Being

HRs Role?
Handhold new managers
Sensitise them to dangers of wrong assumptions
Provide them coaches

Focus on interventions that help improve employees perceptions of

Competency
Autonomy
Relatedness

Leadership is not something that

you do To People
Its Something that You do With
People
- Ken Blanchard

One More Time

Three Misunderstandings that lead to failure:

Leaving out Emotional Intelligence as an important criterion for success

The Human Nature: Focusing too much on rewards and punishment

The Nature of Managing Others

Thank You