I was recently talking to a Director Operations of a BPO during my recent vacation. He was telling me how he and his fellow Directors were evaluating Managers to get promoted to Senior Manager positions, and in the 10 candidates they interviewed and assessed in detail, 9 were definite "no-nos".
And these were people who had worked for the firm for the last three years.
So their boss the MD asked them, "These 10 people have worked with you (3 Directors) over the last 3 years, and yet you feel none of them are ready for promotion?"
The Directors nodded "yep"
The MD then asked the question that really silenced them, "So whose fault is it?"
Then the Director told me "After that day we've been having discussions...and the whole thing is this pull between today's needs and tomorrow's needs. Today I need to concentrate on getting my SLAs and metrics perfect, so I end up telling my Managers what to do instead of letting them figure out, even though I know that's important for their growth to the next level"
So as a manager is that your dilemma too? How do you handle that?
And as a subordinate, can you realise if your supervisor is having the same dilemma? What can you do to help them? (Hint: Ask for a mentor/coach/cross-functional opportunity)
What organizations can do is publish what competencies are needed at various levels and therefore make it evident for people to take charge of their own development. Doing so would also ensure that levels exist because there is a need and not just to show promotions for the employees :-)
Gautam,
ReplyDeleteYou ask, Whose job is it? Good question.
As with many things in life and business, the responsibility is shared.
The Directors should be setting development goals for their subordinates each year in an annual planning cycle. (Yes, a published hierarchy of competencies would be a help.)
HR should be the ones that design and facilitate the planning process.
And the Boss ( a VP, I guess) should "hold their feet to the fire" of accountability to make sure the plams are executed.
Terry
As Terry had rightly mentioned that the responsibility is shared. But I feel that is more skewed towards the "boss" than the subordinate. As even if the subordinate is asking for oppertunities/mentoring/...likes it is the boss who has to provide them. People management is crucial to retain employees, especially in knowledge economy.
ReplyDeleteIt's definitely a shared responsibility - but I think it's more skewed toward the subordinate. It's my job to make sure I know what needs to be done to get to the next level (if that's what I want) and if I don't, I have only myself to blame. If it's that difficult to enlist the support of my boss or my company overall - maybe I'm in the wrong company. Personally, I have a difficult time abdicating responsibility for my career to someone else. It means the most to me!
ReplyDeleteAs a manager, I have always worked with people to help them identify their goals and work towards them - but in today's world, the ones that have respectfully pushed for more have always done better!