Role Expectations from Managers

KSS KANHAIYA
BE, DCPA, MBA, MA(App. Psy.), PhD(Mgmt.)
CE(I), FIE (I), MIMA, MISCA, LMCSI, LMIIMM
kss.kanhaiya@gmail.com
http://ksskanhaiya.blogspot.com
http://www.facebook.com/kss.kanhaiya

• Introduction:
The changes in the business environment have thrown open a world of
opportunities and challenges for managers. The changed environment
demands higher effectiveness necessitating managerial styles very different
from the traditional ones. This paper is an attempt to explore into the new role
expectations.

• The changed environment:

The changes in the business environment have created need for trim, flat
and flexible organisational structure with matrix system of reporting and reduced
reporting levels; decentralised decision-making & higher labour productivity. The
need for multi-disciplinary task forces, effective HRD systems & strong
Management Information Systems is indisputably accepted. But, the changes in
management requirements have not occurred in isolation. The employee
profiles have also changed. The present flock of employees is highly
knowledgeable, creative, original and imaginative. The group at hand is
genuinely interested in solving problems but is, at the same time, marked by
marginal levels of obedience or docility. There is a marked distaste for
bureaucracy and evident desire for involvement in decision-making process.
High aspiration levels coupled with emphasis on smart-working (rather than
hard working) results in high turnover rates where the working relationship in the
organisation is not dominated by loyalty but by market mechanism of demand-
price- supply chain. Such a situation further highlights the modified role-
expectations from the managers so as to ensure a match between changed
work-groups & changed business demands.

• Expected Roles:
We will outline the expectations from present day managers in order to be
able to lead the teams more effectively towards organisational goals.
• Development and Skill Augmentation
The managers have to keep track of what is happening in and around
their own organisations. They should keep themselves technically and
managerially up-to- date. Similarly they have to ensure, encourage & facilitate
development of teammates. Because of rapid change in technology &
concurrent changes in organisational sizes, a large number of workers are
becoming semi-skilled for new roles. The managers have to strive to bridge this
gap by retraining, job enlargement, redeployment & multi-skilling – as per
requirements of situations. The training needs of people should be properly

By Dr. KSS Kanhaiya, First Published in 2000: Page 1 of 3

identified, addressed and fulfilled. Continuous & planned help to employees for
their knowledge & skill improvement should become a priority area. The
counselling, guiding, coaching & mentoring roles of managers are now
becoming their routine activities.
• Creativity
Managers should approach service with creativity and innovation. Creativity, in
the on the part of managers will cause innovations and revolution in
management functions. Jobs should be carried out not by treading the beaten
paths in stereotyped manner but with flexibility to cause improvement at every
step. At the same time, infinite freedom in experimenting for creativity should
not be encouraged at the cost of conformity.
• Team Working
In the changed environment integration of functions has become order of the
day, managers have to work as members of multi-disciplinary task forces. This
requires them to practice team-working principles more vigorously and build
team spirit. It is necessary to ensure that the manager is one amongst & not
above the work-group & also that penalty for failure & reward for success are
comparable in magnitude.
• People Involvement
The new lot of employees has to be involved in the preparation of strategies
and action plans to ensure their commitment for implementation.
Encouragement to make suggestions & objective recognition of the employees
is required to facilitate this process. People should be encouraged to become
pro-active enough to anticipate problems and initiate planning to obviate them
rather than to manage the difficulties when these arise.
• Industrial Relations
Optimisation of labour productivity necessitates good industrial relations.
Prompt grievance- redressal mechanism with a human touch is necessary.
Unions need to be developed for constructive role. Managers have to create a
condition where management and unions trust and co-operate with each other.
• Leadership
In order to achieve higher control of their work environment, the managers need
to motivate people, create new directions and generate new opportunities. They
have to combine creativity, imagination, intellect and sensitivity towards needs
of new breed of employees. The strengths of these people can be fully utilised
only through their involvement and willing co-operation which need effective
winning techniques.
• Behavior
Current managers are under greater scrutiny from the led. Their model behavior
can create the spirit of excellence. They have to set personal examples for
others to follow. The managers are required to create a climate of trust and co-
operation. All actions of the managers are to be driven with purposefulness and
resolve.
• Communication
Effective communication is the key to effectiveness of actions. It helps to obtain
better support and willing involvement of team-members. It is also vital in order
to ensure proper appreciation of actions & constraints by the top management;
thereby garnering support. The managers have to improve upon their

By Dr. KSS Kanhaiya, First Published in 2000: Page 2 of 3

communication skills. New & faster means of communication should be
optimally employed to create wide & in-time communication of relevant facts.
This will avoid avenues of presumptions leading to mistrust & will generate
harmony, unison and understanding amongst all. Many of performance- barriers
can be removed by increased transparency.
• Motivation
Managers need to remain self-motivated. Increased responsibility should be
delegated to employees and they should be given adequate freedom to plan
and organise their work. Fair recognition, due appreciation and rewards for
beyond-normal efforts are great motivators. Proper care of work-environment,
human-touch in interactions, in-time guidance & support etc. are the points
managers should never miss while dealing with their teams. It is important to
note that the present genre of employees loses motivation if bossism,
bureaucracy or avoidable procedural constraint is prevalent in the system. The
systems, procedures and practices should be simplified further so as to reduce
impediments of faster actions. In order to do away with bureaucracy; reduction
in reporting levels and encouragement to lateral coordination will help.
Delegation of more powers to managers at middle and lower levels helps them
to remain motivated & make things happen.
While the employees should be made to feel the necessity to display
existence of proper match between their individual abilities and the job
demands; they should be assured of existence of match of their abilities and
needs with the job rewards. Pay packets should be commensurate & linked with
performance, should have linkage with costs of living & also well-structured vis-
à-vis tax laws.

• Conclusion
The expectations from the managers outlined above are not very new but
their importance has now become high. The present-day managers have to
become more creative, decisive, determined, enterprising, energetic, intelligent
& pro-active. They need to understand that meeting these expectations in a
better way is necessary for survival of their organisation & thus of themselves.
The managers are responsible both for discovering & defining their role as well
as discharging the same. Success of their organisation is their task & the world
does not house magic bullets. One has to carve ones own weapons to win ones
war.
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By Dr. KSS Kanhaiya, First Published in 2000: Page 3 of 3