Dear Colleagues! This is Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post 959 for Pharma Veterans. Pharma Veterans Blogs are published by Asrar Qureshi on its dedicated site https://pharmaveterans.com. Please email to aq.pharmaveterans@gmail.com for publishing your contributions here.
This blog post has been inspired by Gallup® research on managers’ strengths, weaknesses, and blind spots, link to the article at the end.
As a first line manager, I attended a management training course arranged by the company in collaboration with an external trainer. Among the many exercises we did, there was one where we, as managers, had to rate ourselves on various management parameters. Whatever we rated ourselves was not discussed individually, but collectively these were discussed. After returning to office, I, on an impulse, gave the same form to my team members and asked them to rate me on the given parameters. I asked them to do it with a free mind, without any fear. After some cajoling, they did. To my surprise, our perceptions varied on couple of key parameters, and I still remember it. For example, I always thought that I maintained a rather soft behavior towards team, but their feedback was that I looked soft, but I was always firm and uncompromising on work.
When I read this recent paper from Gallup, I was reminded of the above episode. At a much later stage, the corporate where I was working started 360 degrees appraisal where such things became more apparent. My question however was, what next? I did not see any change in anyone. The issues raised by peers and subordinates remained as such, without any relief. I don’t know if the HR was not strong enough, or the managers were too powerful.
Similar to the description of Johari’s Window (also discussed in my blog posts quite a while ago), Gallup draws a matrix of manager-employee interactions, which has four quadrants. I must mention that the findings are based on study using nationally representative U.S. sample of 2,729 managers and 12,710 employees. Each group assessed how they were managing their teams or how they were being managed, based on a list of 20 managerial responsibilities.
- Strengths – areas rated highest by both managers and employees. These included:
- Knows the projects or tasks being worked on
- Provides resources needed to do the job
- Responds to calls and messages within 24 hours
- Approachable with any type of question
- Quality of feedback is very helpful
- Emphasizes how our work impacts our customers
- Known Weaknesses – areas rated lowest by both managers and employees. These included:
- Asks employees to help set their (manager’s) performance goals
- Meaningful discussion of team members’ strengths only in the past 3 months
- Meaningful feedback in the last week only
- Does not remove barriers to performance
- Does not motivate for outstanding performance
- Blind Spots – areas rated higher by managers but rated lower by employees. These included:
- Recognition for good work
- Providing weekly feedback
- Building a collaborative team
- Unrecognized Strengths – areas rated higher by employees but rated lower by managers. These included:
- Creating accountability for high performance
Findings from this study reveal that managers excel at the basics, but out of the top five most important manager behaviors that drive employee engagement, four are known weaknesses and one is a blind spot.
Where Do We Stand?
Our issues in Pakistan are different from the developed countries and are closer to developing/underdeveloped countries. We can still draw some comparisons because human beings are essentially the same. Referring to the above study, our situation is also similar. However, our managers’ route to growth, and support along the way is very different.
Management Structure
The development of management structure depends on the thinking of the entrepreneur, not on the size or need of business. Some small companies are organized finely, while large companies may be in complete disarray. The argument for unorganized companies is that they are still doing roaring business. True, but no one is counting the lost business.
The expansion of business depends on the appetite of the owner/entrepreneur. Few entrepreneurs consider making their businesses into long-lasting enterprises. They consider earning for themselves and then their next generation only. They don’t see beyond that. More particularly, they never think about the people working in their organization, who come to make careers but end up doing labor of the poorest kind.
Upgradation of people in most organization is also dependent on the will/whim of the owner/entrepreneur. Loyalty to the owner takes priority over merit usually and the same system continues to the lowest ranks. The senior most people run the will of the owner, not what is needed to be done.
In summary, management structure in Pakistan is rudimentary, underdeveloped, or distorted.
Management Practices
Our management practices remain embedded in the feudal/patriarchal system. A manager will only look to be a manager if he has the capacity to mistreat his subordinates. The owners/entrepreneurs routinely abuse employees, disrespect them, and attack their self-respect. In certain settings, even physical abuse is common.
Job descriptions are non-existent, except in properly organized companies. Anyone may be asked to do anything, including personal jobs. I was once invited by a medium size pharma company for consultation on a subject. When the lunch time came, the owner ordered the lady working as the receptionist/ telephone operator to set up lunch table for us. The poor lady did it because it must have been a routine.
We are in such deep abyss in management practices that it will take herculean effort, sustained over time to take us up. No such effort is in progress.
Management Trainings
There are three critical deficiencies in our management training facilities/offerings/ capabilities.
One, almost all trainers have no personal experience of management. They put together materials from here and there, develop a training course, and sell it to companies. The buying/selling is also dubious and may include connections, if not graft.
Two, training materials and concepts are outdated. The trainers have no clue what is happening in the world and therefore use dated materials. Training courses are designed for delivery, not for outcome. The trainees remain as ‘untrained’ as they were before the session.
Three, the big-name universities offering management training are even worse. Their teachers run the course without having any background of business. They may be more current, but their entire emphasis is on case studies which are photocopied over and over again. The content is read but neither discussed properly nor understood.
Sum Up
Our business organizations lag in understanding and practice of management by miles and miles. Government organizations have no management at all. The discipline of once highly organized outfits is also crumbling. It is a sad commentary on where we are and that unfortunately, we are going nowhere.
Having said that, there are three reasons why the businesses are still successful. One, almost everyone is in the same boat, so no one is challenging others. If a significant number of bigger businesses are developed along modern lines, they will become contenders for comparison. They will attract better talent and achieve much bigger milestones. Secondly, though customer service here is among the poorest in the world, the customers accept it as a matter of fate. They keep buying from the same businesses who do not respect them or give them good service. Thirdly, our huge population growth makes businesses growing. No one is therefore pushed to improve the management situation.
Concluded.
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For most blogs, I research from several sources which are open to public. Their links are mentioned under references. There is no intention to infringe upon anyone’s copyrights. If, however, it happens unintentionally, I offer my sincere regrets.
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