Jeffrey Hansen-Carlson's Blog
Posted by Jeffrey Hansen-Carlson
It is a double edged sword, but the dilemma is much less damming if individual managers are able to challenge these problem employee/genius leader types to exploit their full potential.
Let's face it; some employees are social and economical drains on your organisation. To challenge them may be a futile waist of your time and money. But some must be challenged and I am sure you know just the type of employee I am talking about.
The individual that I describe has a high need for achievement. If you can't satisfy their need to secure superior performance, broader responsibility, and upward mobility, this future CEO will become a disgruntled employee and a burden on your business.
These individuals are easy to pick out of the employee group. They are well known, often entrepreneurial and ambitious, frustrated by tasks that are repetitive, menial, and lack discretion and autonomy, they are risk takers and last, they are efficient communicators.
If you have individuals in your organisation that resemble the traits of someone with a high need for achievement, go back to the office and give them a special project, more responsibility, or a specific and rewarding challenge. They will not let you down.
Posted by Jeffrey Hansen-Carlson
Supply chain management, the logistics of physically getting a product to the consumer, is quickly evolving into a high stakes game.
The consumer wants their goods faster, in better condition, and with more bells and whistles. The producer, in sustaining a competitive advantage, has focused on enhancing the value of what they provide, not so much the mechanics of providing it. The logistics of the transaction, in keeping check with the focus of the producer on their given output, is increasingly being auctioned off to a third party service provider.
To align all aspects of the transaction facilitated by the logistics firm with the principles and values of the producing company it is critical that strong links are maintained.
The producer has staked its value on the services provided by a logistics firm. In more ways then one, the consumer's post-purchase opinions are shaped by the logistical transaction and this is cause for seamless management interaction by both parties.
Posted by Jeffrey Hansen-Carlson
An industry is completely different from a market. This incredibly simple contrast causes nothing but problems for many naïve managers.
An industry is made up of a group of competing sellers. A market is made up of a group of competing buyers. It is very likely that the industry is attractive where the market is not and visa versa.
The promise of the industry may well be eroded by the challenges of the market. Similarly, the opportunities of the market may well be dampened by the destructive competition of the industry.
In assessing any opportunity it would be prudent to thoroughly assess both sides of the market-industry equation.
Some guru's say "don't sell what you can make, make what you can sell!" I find this notion too simplistic. Although I can't come up with a grabby cliché myself, I will say that if you can make it competitively and sell it competitively then you may have a winner.
The lesson in short is that not one business can ignore the effects of either the market or the industry. The two are so fundamentally different yet equally critical that any competitive decision must give them reasonable weight.
Posted by Jeffrey Hansen-Carlson
If you are hesitant to commit to your employees then be the wiser and don't expect your employees to commit to you. This is a simple idea yet an invaluable lesson that many managers are only beginning to adopt as a centerpiece of their individual style.
The entitled self-serving manager is on the brink of extinction and nobody is making an effort to resurrect the species in our zoos.
Managers are responsible for two things: ensuring productivity and making money. Many believe that these are only compatible at a detriment to labour objectives. I don't buy this whatsoever.
Managers need not be afraid to go above and beyond what an employee group may expect. If the fear is that your efforts will be taken advantage of, you should read my article on critical employee attitudes to gain a contemporary appreciation of what you stand to gain in terms of output and money given a credible commitment.
The employees that will take advantage of your commitment to them are the ones that are already taking advantage of your relative lack of commitment. You are doing the success of your organisation no justice by withholding from yourself and your employees the benefits of commitment because of a few unappreciative individuals.
Posted by Jeffrey Hansen-Carlson
I encourage all managers to adopt a personal style. There is no 'correct' way to manage. But, there are concepts, theories, and ideas that without question will positively influence each and every manager.
These ideas span human resource management, organisational behaviour, competitive strategy, project management, marketing, finance, accounting and leadership to name a few.
To be an effective manager in a competitive organisation, an individual must have a working knowledge of each of these topics.
I fear the day that the Guru's of outsourcing attempt to scientifically depict what constitutes a good manager in a futile bid to save money via a third party management provider.
Success resides not in the CEO's office, but in the minds of frontline managers and employees.
I place more value on employees and frontline managers then most management thinkers. This is not to say that other people and functions in a business are less important or that other thinkers are wrong. Rather, firms must get up to speed on the trends dictating success in these two organisational zones because they alone will be the source of the next revolution in competitive trends.
There is no sense patting every manager on the back. There are managers that consistently erode corporate value, destroy employee productivity and cost companies money. This is unacceptable and far from complimentary of the demands placed on them by their competitive environments.
