Three skills all managers need

Being a manager can be one of the most fulfilling and rewarding jobs. However, it can also be one of the most difficult and stressful ones, especially when the role keeps changing, making it harder and harder to be a good or great manager. 

“Just when you think you've figured it out, another change, challenge, or requirement comes your way! Just look around you. Your workforce is different, more diverse than ever with five generations working side by side, the workplace is different, with new work arrangements and AI impacting how and where work gets done, and expectations from your business, customers, and people are different as well. Add it all up, and being a manager is more challenging than ever!” 

From Bad Bosses Ruin Lives by Debra and Ken Corey

According to Perkbox’s recent study, the top response from managers as to why they are not able to deliver what is needed is that they ‘have not received adequate training on how to improve my skills as a manager.’ Plus, almost half say they feel powerless to protect their team’s wellbeing due to a lack of training and tools.

So what can organisations do to combat this, to set their managers (and their business) up for success?

One way is to provide the training that their managers require and are asking for. To help them not only improve their existing skills, but develop new ones to meet the changing needs of the workplace and workforce today and in the future.

I call these skills ‘building blocks,’ and identify 14 of them as part of my Great Boss Building Block model. Together they reflect the new role of a manager, one where both behaviours and actions are required to be effective and successful.

Here are examples of three of these building blocks from this model, and some things to consider when developing skills in these areas:

Compassion

Compassion can be defined as “an empathetic emotional response to another person’s pain or suffering that moves people to act in a way that will either ease the person’s condition or make it more bearable.” It’s about taking a human approach to how you lead, putting your people first by showing kindness and understanding towards them, particularly in difficult times. 

Compassionate managers listen to their people and take action to support them when they face challenges or setbacks. They offer their people encouragement, and show flexibility and understanding in accommodating and supporting their personal and professional needs.

Compassionate managers also deal with their people as individuals, As Perkbox’s report says, “The one-size-fits- all approach is long gone. It’s something our survey respondents were definitely aware of, with 75% saying that increasing diversity across team members required a varied approach to management.”

As well as ensuring your managers have a compassionate approach, provide them with tools that back this up as well (see the earlier stat about lack of tools making them feel powerless!). For example, do managers have the ability to offer mental health days off to their teams? Do you offer wellbeing benefits and cost of living support they can signpost to? And how much flexibility are you able to offer to different working styles and patterns?

Communication

When done well, communication can have a profound impact on your people and on your business, boosting employee morale and satisfaction, driving productivity, and improving trust, collaboration, and cooperation. Here are three ways a manager can communicate effectively:

1. The first is to default to transparency. Too often when we communicate to our people we automatically jump to the conclusion that we need to withhold information, believing there’s no way that you can share all of it. It’s time to flip this on its head, and instead start with the mindset of sharing everything, defaulting to transparency, and then only withholding something if you have a really good reason for doing so. 
2. Next is to share and explain the ‘why.’ So not just the message and information, but why you’re sharing it and why it should matter to them. This helps you share the entire picture, and bring your people into the coveted circle of trust, letting them know that you trust and respect them enough to be open and transparent with them.
3. And finally, it’s important to communicate with empathy, which at its core involves putting yourself in the shoes of the recipient. Sometimes it’s easy, as you may have been in their situation before, but if you haven’t, this can be challenging. Regardless, it’s critical to gain this perspective and understanding, and then use this to deliver information in an empathetic way based on what’s right for them. 

Appreciation

Appreciation involves the act of showing your people that you recognise, acknowledge, and appreciate their efforts and accomplishments through positive feedback. At its core, it’s about looking for and seeing the ‘moments that matter’ by doing something constructive, meaningful, and personal to make your people feel valued and appreciated for their contributions. 

Here are my four golden rules, the four things you MUST do to deliver what I call the ‘appreciation feeling:’

1. M = Meaningful — This is critical so that the recipient truly feels appreciated, and it happens when you deliver meaning in both what you say and what you do, showing your people that you have seen, value, and appreciate their specific contributions. 
2. U = Unified — This involves focusing on appreciating your people in a unified and inclusive manner. Appreciation does not and should not create a divide or wedge between your people, with the ‘haves’ and ‘have nots.’ Instead, appreciation needs to be universal so everyone can receive it. 
3. S = Spotlight — This is about shining a spotlight on appreciation. The benefits are that it showcases what good and great look like to your people and what will lead to being recognised, it multiplies the impact as others see and get involved with the appreciation, and it connects your people in a positive, meaningful, and uplifting way. 
4. T = Timely — This involves making appreciation timely, and focuses on the when of showing appreciation. It’s about delivering appreciation in the moment, when there is little to no gap between the contribution and when you show appreciation. And it’s about recognising the small wins, not just the big, end results. 

Let me end by encouraging you to consider skills such as these as part of your training curriculum, providing them with what is necessary to meet the changing and evolving demands of their job. Help them succeed, and help them be great.

Want more insight from Debra? Watch the recording of our recent webinar HERE