Local managers hit global standards

By Himal Kothalawala

Managers in the Sri Lankan private sector compare reasonably well to the best managers globally, a leading management expert said yesterday.

Speaking at the Great Place to Work Conference 2017 in Colombo, bestselling author of ‘Trust Rules’, management expert Bob Lee, highlighted that Sri Lankan managers tend to be approachable, collaborative and competent. They’re also particularly skilled in communication, with an ability to clearly spell out their expectations to employees and seek suggestions. 

There is room for improvement, however, according to Lee’s findings, in straight talk and getting to know their employees. Compared to their international counterparts, Sri Lankan managers could also be more appreciative of their employees and need to work on being more welcoming. Mangers here scored low in areas of integrity, work-life balance, fairness, dependability and having fun together.

However, Lee expressed his surprise at the extent to which the best work places in Sri Lanka are up there with the best workplaces in the world. 

“Why that is I’m not sure, but that’s another day’s discussion,” he said, continuing his presentation on how the world’s best managers create great workplaces.

A lot of managers, said Lee, don’t really understand the crucial role they play in creating a good place of work.

“If your manager doesn’t see the crucial link between your ambition to be the great place to work and the reality that the employee experiences, that’s where the problem lies,” he said.

A good manager means a good workplace experience for employees, while a bad manager means the opposite, he said, adding that in his experience, managers are barely aware of the pivotal role they play in this regard.

“Most managers want to do the right thing. They don’t understand the extent to which small behaviours can have an enormous impact or a negative impact on the employee experience,” he said.

According to Lee, trust plays a key part in creating a great place to work.

“From a manger’s perspective, it would be wonderful if we could have every employee bring all of themselves to work - all of their talent, ability, enthusiasm, their ideas and experience to the work that they do. That’s what happens when employees are in a high-trust organisation,” he said.

“As managers it’s great if our employees could show that they trust us, and then we can trust them. Trust makes us vulnerable. I trust an employee to do something, I’m making myself vulnerable,” he added.

Some managers’ ignorance of this vulnerability, said Lee, is probably the single biggest challenge in persuading managers that they have a key role.

“The good news is that everything else that managers need to do is just a feature of the normal activity that they do. It’s actually embarrassingly simple. It’s hard to position yourself as a trust guru when you see how simple the solutions really are,” he said.

Integrity is also important, as well as learning to keep promises.

“Turns out employees think of a promise as a - say, if you say ‘I’ll let you know tomorrow, or let me think about it’, these are all promises. As managers we often say these things as a deflector.  But if you come to me with a suggestion and I say I’ll think about it, the implication is that I’ll provide you with an answer at some point in the future,” Lee pointed out.

In order to make a workplace a great place to work, managers also need to be approachable.

“In the modern workplace, we have an open door policy. But it’s important to appreciate that from an employee’s perspective, for a manger to be approachable and easy to talk to is that their ability to put their phone down. If you go to meet your manager, and she’s talking to you while intermittently looking at a laptop screen or a mobile device, that’s not being approachable,” said Lee.

“An open workplace is not the same as an open mind,” he added.

A manager is more than about being a conduit of information, said Lee. It’s about managing and taking responsibility. “Take responsibility for bad news, not just good news,” he said.

It’s as much about what we don’t say as what we do say.

“If we share information openly, employees will ask questions. And if they ask for something sensitive, you can say that’s information I can’t share with you. That’s being straight,” he said.

Managers need to communicate their expectations clearly, as a lot of employees don’t really understand what their role is supposed to be.

“It’s not enough for you to be clear on what to expect of your employee, more importantly your employee should know what to expect from you,” said Lee.

Another crucial aspect is showing appreciation, on a day-to-day basis, as opposed to a rare symbolic gesture.

“Being a manger in a great workplace is about being a good manager and doing the small things well. Understanding that little things have a big impact. Show your appreciation, particularly instant appreciation rather than year-end awards. Tell your employees they’ve done well,” said Lee.

A good manager is aware of the hidden depths of his employees and is often sincere enough not to exploit that insight.

“Everybody that works for your organisation has a story and has a depth to them beyond what you know of them. We all have things that are much more important to us than the work that we do. And what smart managers do is that they seek to understand without ever exploiting that information. They don’t see somebody as just a face,” said Lee.

“Everybody in your team has family responsibilities. Respect that. Consider the accommodations they need in terms of a work-life balance,” he added.

Managers also ought to realise that fairness is not necessarily the same as being equal. Being fair is about treating people in a way that shows that everybody is treated fairly. However, it’s important to confuse fair and equal, he reiterated.

“Remember that fair isn’t the same as equal. Treating unequal people equally is not fair. If people put in unequal effort, then why should they be rewarded the same way? It’s time to make sure the managers understand the difference between treating people fairly and treating people equally,” said Lee.

“Do what you’re paid to do,” he added.