Let’s Get Our Management In Order

When you think about management issues you usually think of smaller companies who lack the resources or knowledge for the training needed. Well this isn’t always the case. Over the weekend I came across a news story of a very well known company who is now facing a lawsuit due to alleged poor performances and poor judgement by their managers. The

managers allegedly held a ritual for employees who were being fired. It was said to serve as a way of humiliating them in-front of current employees and customers in the hopes of discouraging other employees from breaking the rules.

What most people don’t realize is that a large majority of management and leadership issues happen in those big corporations where you have several levels of management. Often times the lower management levels are left to handle themselves with very little guidance or performance evaluation.

When you have multiple levels of management it’s extremely important that systems are in place to oversee and train the lower management levels and how they are handling sensitive situations. Many times it’s the lower management who have direct contact with employees and customers. Very often these lower management are the individuals with the least amount of training.

Take a retail store for example. Some, not all, have managers that haven’t been managing before, have very little training, and don’t have an upper level manager guiding and watching what they are doing on a continual bases. These store managers don’t just over see the store. Most the time these managers are responsible for the employees, the store, and all the customer interactions and issues. That is a lot to handle for someone with very little training especially in the larger retail stores.

Not only is that a lot to be responsible for, but when you are dealing with the public in this type of capacity, you also have the watchful eye of “Big Brother” on you at all times. We have large corporations leaving their livelihoods in the hands of people who might not have the proper training or the mentorship to handle the day-to-day situations that can sometimes lead to legal issues.

Here are just a few of the ways to ensure that your lower level managers are abiding my company standards:

• Strict guidelines and company policies need to be in place and adhered to.
• No manager should be put into rotation that has not met all the company trainings beforehand.
• It is vital that all levels of managers receive intense training in the situations and circumstances that they will be faced with at their level.
• All managers need to have a manager or mentor that oversee’s what they are doing on a continual basis including procedures and protocols that need to be followed.
• Continual training needs to be incorporated into a schedule so that techniques and standards are met and improved upon.
• Regular and surprise evaluations need to happen so there is constant follow-up and checks and balances
• Accurate records need to be kept so that any instances can be followed-up with and further training can begin immediately.

All levels of management need to have someone above them checking on what is going on and holding them accountable for their responsibilities, actions and performance. If a company let’s it’s managers control a large part of their business, and these managers are inadequately trained or running lose on their own terms, they are opening the door for lawsuits and public scrutiny that can be detrimental to the success and future profits of the company.