Ontario Municipal Human Resources Association

In five decades of providing leadership training for more than 200 organizations, I have repeatedly encountered groups of managers who are unclear about their role. The starting point in any leadership development campaign is to clearly define what you want your managers to be able to do at the end of their learning journey.

Begin by asking, “What should managers be held accountable for?” Why is this question vital? Because accountability drives behaviour. Very few people come to work thinking, “I’m going to do a really crappy job today.” Managers, like 99.9% of employees, want to be seen as competent. So, let’s define the accountabilities that will shape their behaviour on the job.

People in management roles should be held accountable for three things:

1. Their teams’ outputs: This accountability is typically understood. It includes safety, productivity, quality, performance to budget, and adherence to legal and policy requirements. It drives leadership development targets in areas such as:

• Technical expertise (depending on the work of the team)
• Health and safety (hazard recognition, response to work refusals, reaction to critical injuries, duties of employers and supervisors, etc.)
• Human rights (direct and adverse effect discrimination, prohibited grounds, harassment and violence prevention, strategies for enhancing workplace respect, recognizing and responding to complaints and occurrences)
• Workers’ compensation (basic understanding of the system, reporting requirements, return to work requirements, etc.).

2. Maintaining and developing a team that continues to produce good outputs, regardless of changes: This accountability drives leadership development targets in areas such as:

• The manager’s role in selection processes (may include interview skills, testing practices, duties and labour relations principles relating to probationary periods).
• The manager’s role in the orientation and training of new staff (basic training in instructional methods).
• Integrating employees into the organization’s mission (clear and persuasive communication techniques).
• Knowledge and practical skills relating to coaching and discipline.
  • How to define the performance you want in concrete terms.
  • How to recognize and reinforce good performance.
  • How to coach employees out of bad habits and practices.
  • When discipline is necessary, how to ensure it’s just and measured.
• How to manage change.
  • It’s not only about “buy-in.” Behaviour dictates belief, so well-chosen mandatory practices become part of the change agenda.
• How to work effectively with supporting staff from HR and Legal.

3. Exercising leadership: It’s surprising how often this accountability is not understood. The old question of “Are you a manager or a leader?” reflects this misunderstanding. Managers who are poor leaders are simply called bad managers!

Employers should expect managers to bring people along in the right direction, with a good level of discretionary effort, and without undue use of authority. There are style points in the business of management, and they are critical to success.

This accountability for leadership drives development targets in areas such as:

• Understanding morale and engagement
• Techniques for setting an example
• Communication techniques in one-on-one and group settings
• Basics of written business communication
• Leading with respect
• Principle-based decision-making when faced with problem issues and behaviours.

I’ve said “techniques” frequently here. It’s an intentional word choice. Too much leadership development training provides only theoretical knowledge. Yes, some theory is vital so that people know the general ideas that guide their behaviour. But in training, managers need and crave concrete, practical techniques. It needs to be tangible. Managers want to know what to say and do when confronting daily problems. We must teach them how to do the task that they’re accountable for.

But if managers are accountable for all these things, what does HR do?

The role of Human Resources is to help build great managers! In too many workplaces, managers are encouraged to offload responsibility for all the “people stuff” to HR. It’s as if the organization is telling employees, “Our managers suck at dealing with people, so talk to these nice folks in HR instead.” That HR model institutionalizes bad management because it undermines the organization’s ability to hold managers accountable for the way their teams work.

Truly great HR prioritizes practical, effective leadership development, which places clear objectives at the top of their agenda.

Written by: George Raine, Founding Director of Montana Consulting Group