Tales from the Corporate Frontlines: A New Managers Tale

This article relates to the Manager/Supervisor competency, commonly evaluated in employee satisfaction surveys. This competency evaluates an employee's feelings regarding their direct manager or supervisor. The manager/supervisor competency covers topics like clarity of goals, manager support, coaching and feedback, and regular reviews of performance. The old adage that "people leave their managers, not organizations" is often true. Of all the workplace stressors, a bad immediate manager is one of the worst and will directly impact the emotional health, productivity, and retention of an employee. This competency can be especially insightful if your organization is losing quality employees while your compensation and benefit packages are equivalent with industry standards.

This article, A New Manager's Tale, was part of EngagedMetrics' compilation, Tales from the Corporate Frontlines. It tells the story of a new manager's search for wise advice that will lead him to a successful career with a new company.

Anonymous Submission

As a recent college graduate, I'd just landed my first management position and was eager to begin. My start date was a few weeks away, and I decided to read up on the management techniques and principles I learned in college. I wanted to be successful with my new company, but more than that, I wanted to be successful and popular with the people I would supervise.

As I sat in my local bookstore coffee shop one afternoon, poring over books and magazine articles, an old friend wandered by. Joe and I had worked together at one of my college jobs for two summers, and when he saw me, he stopped by to chat for a few minutes. He saw what I was reading and asked if he could offer a few hints from his own experience.

A middle-aged worker, Joe was an employee with a great work ethic and sense of company loyalty. He also had experience working for many different managers over the years. I trusted him and wanted his input. "Go ahead," I said, and settled back with my coffee to listen.

" First of all, Joe began, when you give instructions, be as clear as you can. Don't expect your people to read your mind. Let them know what you need, how and when you need it - with regard to workload. Don't make them guess, they hate it and it wastes time and results in unnecessary extra work and inferior quality."

"Secondly, if you have a problem with someone's performance or conduct - take it to the back room. Discuss it, one on one, in private and come to an agreement. I've seen managers berate their employees publicly and come to regret it. In fact, I once saw that practice clear out an entire department - person by person."

"Perhaps most importantly, don't hold back on praising your workers for a job well done. It doesn't cost anything and lets them know that their hard work is appreciated."

"You are their boss, and they want to please you. It's the reason they come to work - other than a paycheck. The company I'm with now actually rewarded managers who scored highly on giving praise and recognition on their recent employee satisfaction survey. Many of them received hefty bonuses."

Joe stopped to sip his coffee. "Is that it?" I asked. "No, he smiled, but those three ought to give you a great start. Good luck, I know you'll do just fine".

I said goodbye to my friend, and a week later started my new job. I've tried to follow his advice and be clear, tactful, and forthcoming with positive recognition. So far---so good!

© 2005 EngagedMetrics, Inc. - All Rights Reserved

This article may be reprinted, provided it is published in its entirety, includes the author bio information, and all links remain active.

Measure. Report. Improve your organization with EngagedMetrics Employee Survey System.

Josh Greenberg is President of EngagedMetrics, Inc.

EngagedMetrics provides organizations of all sizes a powerful web based method for measuring employee satisfaction, determining employee engagement, and increasing employee retention.

Launch your EngagedMetrics Employee Survey System with EngagedMetrics.

In The News:


pen paper and inkwell


cat break through


Managing Yo-Yo Style

Does being managed by others smack more of "Survivor" than... Read More

Re-Discovery Procedures for Building Effective Management Systems: Phase V

Now we turn the corner to our final phase: Re-Discovery.Last... Read More

Great Hires: Avoid Costly Mistakes

Picking people for a job is like going... Read More

Tales from the Corporate Frontlines: A New Managers Tale

This article relates to the Manager/Supervisor competency, commonly evaluated in... Read More

Communicating with Case Studies

A few weeks ago, a couple of colleagues and I... Read More

Turbo Charge Your Career With The Most Powerful Leadership Tool Of All: The Leadership Talk Part 3

To develop and deliver a great Leadership Talk, you must... Read More

Time Management - How to Have Productive Meetings

One of the greatest time wasters of all are unnecessary... Read More

Saying One Thing, Doing Another...

This week I was asked to speak at an internal... Read More

DIVERSITY is a BIG word -- With A HUGE Business IMPACT

Second thought! Just in case. YOU or someone you personally... Read More

Get Down With OCP: Evaluating DBA Job Applicants in an OCP World

Not long ago, weeding through DBA applicants with a tech... Read More

Whadda Jerk!

If one does not understand a person, one tends to... Read More

Influencing Change - A Guide for Sellers, Coaches, and Supervisors

When people or groups make a decision to purchase something,... Read More

Are You Ready to Sell Your Business

Make Sure You Understand Your Motivation for SellingAre you thinking... Read More

Are Your Meetings Smart?

Soon after I finished a brief seminar on how to... Read More

One Crazy Cookie

In order to survive, you have to be happier than... Read More

Communication, Feedback, and Participation: Three Easy Tidbits For Smarter Business

On communication: One of the biggest strains on the communication... Read More

Business Innovation ? Tacit Knowledge

Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation... Read More

ISO 9001 Okay Now You Have It How Do You Market It?

Marketing ISO 9001 2000.Lately we've been seeing a lot of... Read More

The Ins and Outs of Internal and External Relations

INTERNAL PUBLIC RELATIONS: Never overlook an opportunity to do internal... Read More

New Job, New Culture: Do You Fit In?

It seemed like a good decision at the time. A... Read More

Organisation Tips For The Mobile Executive

Despite the fact that everyone sighs "How glamorous!", the life... Read More

The Supervisors 14 Essential Truths For Communicating With Direct Reports

One amazing, but sadly true, fact of today's advances in... Read More

Top Ten Tips About People Management

To get the best results you have to be very... Read More

Money, Motivation, Success and Who?

It was 7:30 on a Saturday morning, and I was... Read More

Performance Appraisal Checklist: Raise Not Just Appraise Performance

It's that time again! Perhaps the most dreaded management practice... Read More

Feedback - Make it Descriptive

Have you ever heard yourself say to a team member... Read More

Another Use for Meetings

Every meeting is a laboratory where you can observe and... Read More

Communicate To The Four Main Personality Types

You probably know this already, but there are generally held... Read More

The Seven Cs: Partnership Danger Signs - Conflict Becoming the Norm ? Part 2

A series of articles exploring the seven critical areas that... Read More

Can Your Business Run Without You?

If you are a business owner or a business owner... Read More

Teaching Large Companies To Think Like The Little Guys

Q: I am an executive at a large company and... Read More

Why Good Enough... Isnt

About a year ago, I had an opportunity to have... Read More

The Three-Dimensional Communication System

Human communication is always three-dimensional. No spoken or written message... Read More