A friend rang me last week to say that he had moved to another organization. Although the salary was lower he felt passionate about the work he would be doing and the role was more complex, which suited his maturing mental capability (go to Free Articles To Download at the top of this blog to receive my White Paper on Capability and how it matures with age). In addition the management culture in his previous workplace had become extremely frustrating. Managers were working in isolation from their staff and ignoring ideas and contributions to improve performance.
Whilst I was pleased to hear he was moving on in his career development I was saddened by what was happening in his previous company which I knew well from a project I undertook for them some years ago. They had lost some valuable talented people since that time and yet were seemingly blind to their contribution to the problem.
Why does this happen? It's fairly commonplace - many of you will be able to think of similar personal experiences. It's easy to hypothesise based on limited information but we can make some educated guesses which could be explored further:
1. Did the managers really not care about the brain drain and loss of motivation? Few managers deliberately set out to lose staff. More likely, they are unaware of the impact of their behaviour. They may well blame other factors before looking inwardly (it also depends on their level of self-awareness).
2. Did they feel threatened by these people? Possibly. A manager who is struggling because their Current Level of Capability is below that which is required by the role will often see other's capability as a threat and may choose to isolate themselves or act aggressively.
3. Were there personality clashes in the team? It's also possible. However, I have often found that problems in organizational infrastructure (e.g. misunderstanding about roles and role relationships, overlaps between roles, etc) are more likely causes of dysfunctional behaviour.
4. What was the CEO doing about it? Good question. How aware were they? Were they prepared to tackle problems or was it easier for them to let others do the infighting? If so, it's a lamentable case of lack of accountability.
What have been your experiences?
About Me
- Christine Baker
- Hereford, United Kingdom
- I run Requisite Development Ltd, a consultancy specialising in diagnostics and solutions for developing people and organizations, based on the unique Requisite Organization Management Model created by Dr Elliott Jaques. We coach managers in the use of our techniques to save time, money and stress, transferring our expertise to them so they can run their organizations successfully and harmoniously. I am also involved in a number of academic research projects and am now looking to conduct research into the maturation of mental capability in children and its implications for their high-school education (anyone interested in joining me in this particular field would be very welcome). Prior to starting my own consultancy I held senior managerial roles in retail banking and HR Development functions within one of the UK's top banks.
Friday, 7 May 2010
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