The importance of developing management skills - Essay Example

The importance of developing management skills There are numerous defining characteristics that differentiate management skills in addition to differentiating them from other types of managerial practices and characteristics. First and foremost managerial skills can be termed as behavioral. Nevertheless, they cannot be said to be stylistic tendencies or personality attributes. Management skills comprise of certain sets of actions that people act upon resulting in specific outcomes. On the other hand, skills may be observed by other people, unlike features that are entirely mental or are entrenched in personality. Although people with various personalities and styles may employ the skills differently, there are, however a key set of noticeable features in efficient skill performance that are widespread across a wide range of personal differences (Armstrong, 2012). Secondly, managerial skills can be described as being controllable since the execution of these behaviours is normally under the individual’s control. Unlike institutional practices such as cognitive activities like “transcending fear” or “selectively hiring” skills can be deliberately improved, practiced, restrained or even demonstrated by people themselves. Furthermore, skills may definitely engage other individuals and need cognitive work; nevertheless, they are behaviours that can be controlled by people themselves. Thirdly, management skills can be developed leading to enhanced performance. Unlike definite temperament or personality aspects or IQ that remain comparatively invariable throughout life, people can improve their proficiency in skill performance via feedback and practice. People can advance from being less competent to more competent in management skills-with this being the fundamental goal of this paper. Fourthly management skills can be said to be overlapping or interrelated and it is hard to display just one skill in isolation from the rest. Thus skills are not repetitive, simplistic behaviors, but instead are integrated sets of complicated responses. Efficient managers must particularly depend on skills combination so as to accomplish desired outcomes. For instance, so as to efficiently inspire others, such skills as supportive communicating, self-awareness, influence, as well as empowerment may be needed. Efficient managers, therefore, institute a collection of skills that support and overlap each other, in the process enabling flexibility in the management of various situations (Whetten & Cameron, 2011). Fifthly, management skills may at times be termed as paradoxical and contradictory. For instance, the key skills in management are neither all humanistic and soft in orientation nor all directive and hard-driving. In addition they are tilted neither toward interpersonal and teamwork relations entirely nor toward technical and individualism entrepreneurship entirely. A wide range of skills are characteristic of the most efficient managers and some of them seem incompatible. Statistical analyses have proved that management skills fall into 4 core clusters or groups. A study carried out in 1988 by Tschirhat and Cameron assessing the skill performance focused on more than 500 mid-level as well as other upper-middle managers in around 150 institutions. Thus, the 25 most frequently mentioned management skills extracted from around a dozen studies were measured. One of the4 clusters concentrated on participative as well as human relations skills, for instance teambuilding and communication whereas the other group concentrated on just the opposite which is control and competitiveness, for instance influence power and assertiveness skills. The third cluster concentrated on individual entrepreneurship and innovativeness such as creative problem solving whereas the fourth cluster concentrated on the opposite kind of skills such as nationality and maintenance of order .The study concluded that most efficient managers are both hard-driving and participative ,both competitive and nurturing. Management skills improvement It may surprise many that while the average IQ scores have risen in the general populace over the past decades, emotional intelligence scores have in fact decreased. Generally in a population, individuals are less skilled in their own management as well as managing others than they were in the past years. Whereas the average IQ scores have increased roughly by 25 points, EQ amongst adults and young people has gone down. Progress in terms of coping with and managing issues associated with other people has not caught up with technological advancement and still remains the biggest hurdle for managers (Whetten & Cameron, 2011). Nevertheless, the good tidings is that progress in developing management skills has been witnessed in both managers and students who have been introduced to a curriculum like the one recommended in Developing Management Skills, for instance MBA students demonstrated improvement of from fifty to three hundred percent on skills of emotional intelligence over a period of 2 years by signing up for 2 courses. A better amount of progress took place amongst students who employed these skills to numerous aspects of their lives outside the lecture halls as well as individuals who were more qualified to start with made the most improvement. Additionally a group of forty five to fifty five year old executives got similar results to the MBA students.This means they also dramatically improved in their management skills despite the fact that majority were already experienced and working in senior managerial posts. Exposure to a conventional curriculum that is cognitive based on the other hand without management skills development exposure does not associate with progress in management skills, career success, or EQ. Thus going to school simply to accomplish high grades in cognitive subjects ,although important, may not be enough for life, career, management success. Thus borrowing money so as to get a title behind one’s name and failing to develop and improve one’s management skills will just be another unfortunate opportunity lost. That is why it is important for students to be introduced to management curriculum courses at the universities in addition to learning models exposure. This is because there is enough scientific evidence suggesting that such an exposure may have a great impact both to individuals as well as to the bottom-line performance of various firms (Griffin & Fleet, 2013). Skills development Developing extremely proficient management skills could be much more complex than developing skills such as those related with a trade for instance welding or such sports as shooting baskets. Thus management skills are first and foremost intrinsically related to dealings with other repeatedly unpredictable people and linked to a more intricate knowledge base than other kinds of skills. An approach that is standardized to shooting and welding free throws might be reasonable but no standardized technique to management of human beings is feasible. All skills have in common potential for progress through practice. Thus any given approach to improving management skills, thus, must comprise a heavy dose of realistic application. Likewise, practice without the obligatory theoretical awareness is sterile and overlooks the requirement for flexibility as well as adaptation to various circumstances. Thus, development of competencies in managerial skills is intrinsically tied to either conceptual learning as well as behavioral practice. Thus, the technique that has been discovered to be most efficient in assisting individuals in development of management skills is on the basis of the social learning theory. This technique combines meticulous theoretical knowledge with opportunities to applying in addition to practicing observable behaviors and depends on cognitive work and behavioral work. Differences on this wide-ranging technique have been widely used in on-the-job management training plan which are widespread in executive education programs together with corporate universities. This type of learning model when initially devised comprised of 4 stages; first and foremost the presentation of action guidelines or behavioral principles, mostly utilized in conventional instructing techniques; secondly is the illustration of the principles by means of films, incidents, scripts or cases; thirdly is the opportunities that are used in practicing the principles via role exercise or plays and finally is the response on performance from experts, instructors and peers (Carlopio & Andrewartha, 2012). Thus continuous teaching and improvement of intricate management skills and various studies regarding development of skills especially amongst MBA students has proved that 3 critical modifications are essential in making the above management more efficient. Secondly, individuals ought to be aware of their present level of skill proficiency and be inspired to advance upon that level so as to profit from the model. Although several organizations offer some type of semiannual or annual evaluation such as performance appraisals in companies or course grades in learning institutions, these kind of evaluations are most of the time narrow in scope and infrequent and fail to evaluate performance in most important skill areas. Therefore to assist individuals in understanding what skills to enhance and why, therefore, an evaluation activity should be part and parcel of the model (Cameron & Quinn, 2000). Additionally majority of people find the habit of changing uncomfortable and thus keep away from taking risks to come up with new behavioral patterns. That is why an evaluation activity in the learning model assists in encouraging such individuals to change by highlighting their weaknesses and strengths. This helps people discover where their weaknesses lie and what they are required to work on so as to improve on the same. Generally assessment activities in the learning model assume the kind of self-evaluation case studies, problems and instruments that assist in highlighting individual weaknesses and strengths in a specific skill area. Thirdly, an application element is also required in the learning model since training in management skills occurs in a classroom setting where there is immediate feedback implying it is secure to test new behaviors in addition to making mistakes. That is why transferring learning to a real job setting is mostly problematic (Carlopio & Andrewartha, 2012). Evidence exists to suggest that a 5-step learning model is mainly efficient for assisting people in developing management skills. The first step involves the evaluation of present levels of skill knowledge and competency of the behavioral principles. The second step comprises of the scientifically based, confirmed guidelines and principles for efficient skill performance. The third step involves analysis in which cases or models are availed so as to analyze behavioral principles in actual institutional settings. This stage also assists in demonstrating how the behavioral principles can be tailored to various personal circumstances and styles. The fourth step is made up of practice exercises whereby experimentation can take place and instant feedback received in a comparatively secure environment. Finally the fifth step involves applying the skill to an actual-life setting mostly outside the learning room, followed by analysis of the comparative efficiency of such an application (Cameron & Quinn, 2000). Various researchers and studies on training programs’ usefulness by use of this general learning model has demonstrated that it leads to the production of far much superior compared to those based on more conventional lecture-discussion-case technique approaches. Additionally evidence proposes that training of the management skill can have a considerable influence on the bottom-line performance of a company. Thus, for instance a study carried out by the US Postal Service whereby they evaluated 49 of biggest 100 post offices with one of the most critical questions during the study being “How post offices can be made more effective?”Service and productivity quality were all monitored for a five year period with the 2 key factors that had a significant impact on the following measures of effectiveness were; level of automation as well as training in investment. Two types of training were offered; management training (development of management skills) and technical training (maintaining and operating the equipment).This study discovered that management training was more essential than technical training as far as accounting for enhanced service and productivity in post offices with both types of training being critical than having latest tools in the office. When managers were offered training in management skills, low-tech offices did well than high-tech offices. In summary, the 5 year study persuaded the US Postal Service that assisting employees in developing management skills was the most effective way to enhance effectiveness in organizations. Thus companies that increase their training activities, the prospects were much, much superior that they were bound to boost their profits in addition to increasing the value of their shareholders. Thus as training budgets increase; productivity, market share and product quality all tend to increase. On the other hand, companies that fail to make investment in training seem to get disappointing results (Cameron & Quinn, 2000). Importance of management training is so important that it has been integrated in business schools’ curriculums. Thus management schools started the rigorous managers training when skill training took its position close to cognitive learning. Generally, cognitive learning is informational and detached just like book reading or attending a lecture. No wonder a much significant cognitive material ought to be incorporated by the trainee managers. That is why management schools must recognize the skills that are used by managers, select students who exhibit potential in such skills, place the students in circumstances where those skills can be applied and then provide them with systematic response on their performance. Similarly, the higher one climbs the corporate ladder, the less applicable technical knowledge becomes. Normally, it is significant only for a person’s first promotions; afterwards it is only people skills that count. It is evident therefore that from every perception, competence in interpersonal ,group as well as personal skills is an essential requirement for being successful in management. In addition, strong quantitative and analytical skills are crucial, though they are not adequate. Successful managers therefore should be able to efficiently work with people. Thus for one to enhance his/her skills in management must also practice management skills, instead of just studying them (Griffin & Fleet, 2013). Over the years, there is a lot of evidence that suggests skillful management –particularly those proficient in managing people in organizations is the core determinant of success in organizations. Thus findings of studies that have been done across several industry sectors, various organizations and international settings make it nearly indisputable that if companies want to be successful, they should have skilful ,competent managers. For instance one particular research studied 968 companies, representing all key industries in the US, found out that firms whose mangers efficiently supervised their employees by implementing efficient employee management strategies in addition to demonstrating personal proficiency in management skills on average had a reduction in turnover of over 7% ,boosted profits of $ 3814 for each worker,$27,044 more in sales per worker as well as $ 18,641 more in money markets value per each worker, as compared to companies that had less efficient employee management. In another study of 702 companies, the wealth of the shareholder was a whopping $41,000 per worker higher in companies exhibiting strong employee management skills than in companies that had a less emphasis on management of people (Cameron & Quinn, 2000). On the other hand a research done of German companies in ten industrial sectors gave similar outcomes, with firms that put workers at the center of their strategies producing high long-term gains than their peers in the industry. Thus efficient people management is the most critical factor in forecasting longevity, even when industry size, type and profits were taken into consideration. Generally, therefore, companies that do an excellent job in managing people tend to survive whereas others do not (Welbourne & Andrews, 1996). Thus, a research conducted by Hanson (1986) examined the factors that led to financial success over a 5 year span in forty manufacturing firms. Hanson sought the reasons behind the financial success of the companies that are extremely effective? He identified as well as assessed the 5 most powerful forecasters which comprised market share, the intensity of the firm’s capital, average return on sales and finally the manger’s ability to efficiently manage their employees. The results disclosed that a single factor, which is the manager’s ability to efficiently manage people, as being 3 times more powerful tool than all the other factors put together in being responsible for the financial success of the company over a 5 year period. It is therefore evident that good people management is far much important than all other factors combined in predicting the profitability of the firm (Hanson, 1996). In addition, research by the government of US backs ups this management-effectiveness connection. Thus, the Office of the Controller of the Currency in US conducted a study on failed national banks in the US during the decade starting in 1980.Two core factors were discovered to be responsible for the historic number of bank failures within that era: poor management and distressed economic environment. Nevertheless, the comparative impact of the above factors was somehow surprising. Nearly 90% of the banks that failed were presumed to have been managed poorly. Only 35% of the failures were attributed to depressed economic situations in the environment in which they operated and it was only in 7% of the banks was a depressed economic situation the single cause of the bank failing (Whetten & Cameron, 2011). There is also spectacular anecdotal evidence illustrating the impact of efficient management on organizations and employees. For instance, one of the most significant examples is that of the General Motors assembly plant located in Fremont California. Built in the 1950s, the plant at the start of 1980 was building the Chevrolet Nova model. In addition, the plant was experiencing productivity and labor issues and the performance became dismally poor as at the end of 1982, with absenteeism running high at 20% .Consequently the number of recorded complaint that employees had filled equaled to nearly 5000 which averaged over 20 complaints each day per workday of the years, with more than 2,000 complaints still not solved by the end of the year. In addition, an average of 3 to 4 wildcat strikes each year had taken place during the past few years with productivity morale as well as production quality by the 5000 workers being the most dismal in the entire corporation. Automobile Assembling costs were around 30% more than the competitors from Asia. In view of these statistics, the corporation’s head office issued an immediate order to have the plant closed and workers laid off (Cameron & Quinn, 2000). Barely 3 years later, GM entered into a joint agreement with Toyota Motors-a competitor to operate its plant. Thus, Toyota had a world famed Japanese method of management and therefore GM requested Toyota to not only reopen the Fremont plant but also manage it. Majority of the former employees were reemployed and a new management team instituted. Employees were subjected to training in extremely -involving work practices with a former GM employee actually becoming the plant manager. Thus, the main difference between the earlier plant and the new plant was the institution of a new management team in addition to the worker training that had been done. In other words, the workforce essentially remained unchanged (Cameron & Quinn, 2000). The corporation’s performance one year after reopening was as follows; absenteeism went down to 2%,there were only 2 outstanding grievances ,no strike reported, there were only 2500 workers assembling 20 % more vehicles, productivity and quality became the highest in the company and costs equaled those of the competitors. The new product produced was known as Geo-Prism and was rated AAA’s best vehicle in its price range. Thus, the most remarkable aspect of this turnaround is the fact that it never took 5 or 10 years to come up with key enhancements in cohesion, commitment and productivity (Cameron & Quinn, 2000). This happened because in just around one year, purely by changing the manner in which employees were managed. Such kind of instances portray tremendously that good management cultivates financial success, while less efficient management results in financial distress. Effective firms have managers who are well equipped with employee management skills. Results of various surveys that have been conducted regarding executives, CEOs, as well as business owners consistently indicate that bad management is the factor most accounted for business failure and the best approach to ensure success of business is provision of better management. Furthermore, management skills are deemed to be more significant than competition, industry, economic and environment factors put together (Cameron & Quinn, 2000). Amazingly, however, getting people who efficiently manage people is a rare occurrence and is not as common as we would expect. As Pfeffer & Veiga (1999) concludes: “Even as these research results pile up, trends in actual management practice are, in many instances, moving in a direction exactly opposite to what this growing body of evidence prescribes.”Consequently, common knowledge and common sense are not essentially common practice. Thus knowing what is to be done and doing it are not in any way similar. Being capable of analyzing a case, identifying the issue, or reciting the right answer to a query is not tantamount to being able to essentially employ efficient management skills (Pfeffer & Veiga, 1998). There are certain attributes that differentiate efficient managers from the less efficient ones. And with the development of management skills being so important for organizational effectiveness, a lot of skills are needed and which every organization that craves for success must embrace. There is so much literature concerning management and therefore numerous lists of behaviors, attributes, strategies, and orientations for improving successful organizational performance. For instance, Pfeffer (1998) recognized 7 major practices related with organizational and managerial effectiveness which comprise; employment security, selective hiring of people, fostering decentralization as well as self-managing teams, instituting high pay levels on the basis of performance ,training extensively, reducing status difference and sharing information (Pfeffer,1998). In 2000,Quinn came up with 8 seeds of efficient management together with leadership :envisioning the productive community, firstly looking within, embracing the hypothetical self, transcending fear, embodying common good vision for all, disturbing the system, surrendering to the emergent processes, enticing managerial aspects as well as identifying such attributes as integrity, self-sacrificial, inspirational, modest, autonomous, diplomatic, visionary, malevolent, self-centered, autocratic, status conscious and integrity. Additionally, Rigby (1998) concentrated on the 25 most widespread management techniques and tools in a research focusing on the relationship between organizational performance and management tools and techniques (Rigby, 1998). Thus, according to 4137 managers in Asia, Europe and North America, the tools related to organization success are: strategic planning, strategic alliances, performance pay, measurement of customer satisfaction, analysis of shareholder value, vision and mission statements, reduction of cycle time, groupware, agile strategies as well as self-directed teams. Though these types of lists are helpful, they nevertheless fail to identify management skills as such. Instead, they itemize organizational strategies, philosophical approaches and personality orientations to management, with their implementation being outside the direct supervision of the concerned manager. They are either complicated sets of actions in which numerous individuals should be involved-for instance guaranteeing employment security, selective hiring or analysis of shareholder value –or may be cognitive actions which are not in any way behavioral in nature-for instance productive community vision, looking within first and or avoiding malevolence. Other lists itemize personality styles or traits such as autocratic or inspirational-or they itemize organizational practices such as performance pay or strategic planning (Cameron & Quinn, 2000). The efficiency of the aspects on these types of lists mostly depends on the skills of the manager in implementing them, which implies that the manager should be competent enough in essential management skills. In reality, management skills shape the vehicle through which management practice, management strategy, techniques and tools, style and personality attributes function to generate efficient results in organizations. Put differently management skills can be termed as the building blocks upon which efficient management rests. This implies that management skills are so important such that managers translate their own strategy, style as well as favorite techniques or tools into practice (Cameron & Quinn, 2000).Continuous development and improvement on management skills is also crucial as far as leadership is concerned. Enhanced management skills lies at the center of in addition to encompassing leadership. Extensive research has been carried out on leadership as well as managerial skills. Thus leadership together with management skills falls into 4 categories. For one to be an efficient manager s/he should be competent and possess clan skills, hierarchy skills, market skills and adhocracy skills. Clan skills comprise those needed in building efficient interpersonal relationships in addition to developing others such as communicating supportively and building teamwork. Adhocracy skills comprise those required in management of the future, innovating as well as promoting change via creatively solving problems and articulation of a stimulating vision. On the other hand market skills comprise those needed to compete efficiently as well as management of external relationships such as using influence and power and motivating others. Hierarchy skills comprise those needed in maintenance of stability and control such as management of time and personal stress, rational resolution of problems (Cameron & Quinn, 2000). Hierarchy and market are normally related with management whereas adhocracy and clan are usually connected with leadership. Leadership in other words has conventionally been utilized in describing what people do under change circumstances. When firms are dynamic and therefore going through transformation, individuals at the very top are anticipated to display leadership (paying attention to hierarchy and market issues).On the other hand management has been used traditionally to describe what is done by executives under stability conditions. Thus management has been associated with status quo (paying attention to hierarchy and market issues) .Additionally, leadership has at times been described as “doing the right things” whereas management has been described as “doing things right”. Normally leaders are said to concentrate on vision articulation, direction setting, organizational and individual transformation in addition to creating a new thing. Managers on the other hand have been known to concentrate on refining, directing and monitoring present performance. Leadership has also been likened to charisma, vibrancy and dynamism whereas management has been likened to control, equilibrium and hierarchy (Carlopio & Andrewartha, 2012). Nevertheless, recent research has clarified those differences between management and leadership may have been suitable in past but no longer useful. Thus, a manager cannot be effective without being a good leader just like a leader cannot be effective without being a good manager. Individuals and organizations no longer have the luxury of sticking onto status quo; distressed about doing things the right way but being unable to do the right things; maintaining a stable system instead of being at the forefront of leading change and improvement, supervising the present performance instead of devising a vision for the future and finally focusing on control and equilibrium instead of charisma and vibrancy. It is pretty obvious therefore that efficient leadership and management are inseparable and that the skills needed in doing one are also needed in doing the other. This implies that there is no organization in a hyper-turbulent, post-industrial 21st century environment that will make it without chief executives capable of offering both leadership and management .To be effective; managing stability and leading change, launching a vision and achieving goals ,monitoring conformance and breaking the rules although contradictory are all needed (Carlopio & Andrewartha, 2012). In conclusion, continuous development and improvement of management skills are required so as to develop competencies that will improve the capacity to be both good managers and leaders. Thus, continuous development and improvement of management skills serves as the bedrock for efficient management and effective leadership in any organization (Armstrong, 2012). References Cameron, Kim S., and Robert E. Quinn (2000) Diagnosing and Changing Organizational Culture. Reading, MA: Addison Wesley Carlopio, J., and Andrewartha, G. (2012). Develop Management Skills. New York,NY: Pearson. Griffin Ricky, andFleet, D. (2013). Management Skills:Assessment and Development. New York,NY: Cengage . Hanson, Gary (1986) Determinants of firm performance: An integration of economic and organizational factors. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Michigan Business School. Michael, A. (2012). Armstrong's HAndbook of Management and Leadership;Developing Effective People Skills For Better LEadership and Management. New Delhi,ND: Kogan Page. Pfeffer, Jeffrey (1998) The Human Equation: Building Profits by Putting People First. Boston: Harvard Business School Press. Pfeffer, Jeffrey and John F. Veiga (1999) “Putting people first for organizational success.” Academy of Management Executive, 13: 37-48. Rigby, Darrell (1998) Management Tools and Techniques. Boston: Bain and Company. Welbourne, Teresa and A. Andrews (1996) “Predicting performance of initial public offering firms: Should HRM be in the equation?” Academy of Management Journal, 39: 891-919 Whetten David and Cameron, K. (2011). Developing Management Skills. New York,NY: Pearson. Read More