An incompetent or a burnt-out manager?
If a manager lacks competencies, the solution is fairly clear: training, mentoring or staffing decisions. If the manager is burnt out, you need to find the causes first.
Below are seven factors we identified while surveying managers in a retail chain. Note that most of them are about processes, not people.
1. Unknown strategic goals
Without a clear goal, people lose motivation — it’s unclear what the effort is for.
2. Vague task setting
A task must include result criteria that everyone understands and accepts. The method matters less than the agreement on the result itself.
3. No rules of interaction
Clear rules of interaction and documented processes significantly reduce the number of stressful situations.
4. “Corridor management”
Tasks should be set at a defined time and place — in the task system, not “on the go” in a corridor or messenger.
5. Lack of authority
A manager must have the authority to solve their team’s problems. When every decision goes “upstairs”, the manager becomes a messenger. Approval rules with thresholds are part of process optimisation.
6. No training
A company library, cross-functional projects, mentoring and, of course, training for managers.
7. No support
Recognition and praise last longer than bonuses, although financial rewards are also appropriate.
What to do
Start with diagnostics: an anonymous pulse survey of managers in Folck will show which factors apply to you. Then bring order to processes and authority and work on motivation systematically (“Staff motivation” training).