Being a good boss in bad times - Management - Brief Article

Push can come to shove for good managers when orders drop 50% or the economy slides into a recession, and downsizing becomes unavoidable. "There's a difference between being a good boss and being popular," argues John E. Lillich, professor emeritus of organizational leadership and supervision, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Ind. "In fact, managers who do things to be popular are likely to find reduced efficiency, and it doesn't make them popular, either."

The key to being a good boss in bad times begins early. "You always want to hire doers and starters, the best people you can--even if they're so good that they're probably not going to stay for a long period. The best people will have a beneficial effect in the company or organization, even in a short time on the job, by raising the level of performance of those around them."

A good boss builds a foundation of trust in the good times that will stand the organization in good stead when bad times inevitably come, notes Lillich. "Understand that management's primary job is to establish standards for individual jobs, measure performance against those standards, and take corrective action. Good managers train their subordinates; retrain them, if necessary; transfer people who aren't performing well; and, as a last resort, dismiss those who can't or don't measure up. The good manager should, in his daily interchanges, be considerate, cheerful, and optimistic; provide positive support; and make it a point to know and get along well with the support staff."

A good manager keeps his or her employees informed about the big picture--the company's place in its industry and about both opportunities and potential problems ahead. It is important that he or she doesn't put down or lay blame on upper-management, even with friends in the organization. Doing this undermines the credibility of the entire management structure.

How does all this translate into managerial action when the wolf is at the door? If a boss has built an environment of openness and trust, his or her employees become much more willing to accept the measures necessary to get the company through bad times, Lillich maintains. The acid test is when a manager must reduce the size of the workforce. Lillich's advice is for the manager to be completely forthcoming. "Some companies ... have offered their employees the opportunity to take unpaid time off." This can take some of the pressure off tough numbers decisions that affect not only those furloughed, but inevitably takes a toll on the morale of those who remain.

The bottom line for layoffs is that management should go about them in a predictable, logical, and humane way. One way, says Lillich, is using seniority as a basis, but with an important caveat: "The idea is to have a good organization, but a smaller one. Seniority implies you've kept the organization in order in the good times. A layoff is no time to clean house."

Whichever way management decides to proceed in an organizational crisis necessitating workforce reduction, he emphasizes that the process is too often subjective or is perceived that way. For example, it can choose to retain the most versatile employees because they are the ones who can keep the enterprise afloat, but this selection process is not as transparent as seniority to employees and can be misinterpreted as management's keeping favored employees and dismissing challenging ones.

The stakes for the organization's future could not be higher Lillich cautions. `The employees' perception of the level of fairness and honesty will affect the organization, positively or negatively, long after the company has weathered the storm at hand."

COPYRIGHT 2002 Society for the Advancement of Education
COPYRIGHT 2002 Gale Group