Build It

6Management

Chapter Objectives

In this chapter, we will:

• Start thinking about the management policies, rules and procedures that affect staff on an ongoing basis.
• Understand the importance of having managers aligned with the company's values and mission.
• Discuss the myth of the permanent job.

Key Points

• Management policy and practice must be in step with your values and what leadership say, or you will have an inauthentic culture.
• Treating our staff as adversaries, which is how many employee handbooks and policy documents start out, is a key factor in damaging trust.
• Perhaps the biggest lie we have in management practice is the myth that jobs are permanent—not dealing with this undermines management relationships.
• Managers are powerful and it is critical that they be on board with employee engagement.

Introduction

Leadership and Management are distinct elements on the Bridge™ but we show them on the same level to make the point that they are closely connected, maybe even intertwined. To some extent, leadership is what you say your organization will do, but management is what it actually does.

In all but the smallest organizations, the most critical decisions will be taken by your managers. They will decide who gets hired; who gets fired; who gets promoted; who gets a raise; how people are managed, coached and developed. It is those actions—detailed and described by HR policies and contracts, and put into practice by your managers—that have a real ability to ...