Recognizing the Problem
Early in my career, I had some interesting jobs. One of the best parts of that experience was having the opportunity to work with some great managers. Unfortunately, I also met my share of managers who, through no fault of their own, were simply in the wrong seats. Here is a snapshot of three of the most memorable.
The Tyrant
My freshman year of college I got a job working construction with my buddy, Tom. Every day was about carrying plywood, blocks, and digging behind a backhoe to create the foundation for a high-rise condo. Our supervisor was brutal. He never even bothered to learn our names. He just called us all the same seven-letter moniker. One day he looked down at me and Tom in our ditch, threw in a plastic coffee spoon and barked, “Why don’t you [monikers] use this so it will get done faster!”
We were the only two on the crew that made it through the summer.
Mr. Hibernation
Another college job was promoting technologies to help businesses save on long distance phone charges. My manager was a great guy and a fantastic salesperson. In fact, he was the leading salesperson in the state. One day, poof! Just like that, he was magically transformed to our district sales manager. The only problem was that he hated to coach and provide feedback. He would rather just do the job himself. He would literally go in his office, close the door and never emerge. A complete state of hibernation.
Needless to say, our district sales numbers crashed, and our sales rep turnover was among the highest in the state.
Everybody’s Best Friend
In grad school, I worked in a photo shop. My manager was awesome. She was funny, friendly, and always the life of the party. To be honest, she was a pretty effective manager—as long as everything was going well. However, when some of my coworkers began to take advantage of her laid-back approach, it all fell apart.
She was soon replaced with the reincarnation of The Tyrant and I left.
Hoping for the Best
Nothing can bring a workplace to its knees faster than a poor leader. A bad manager zaps morale and productivity—and often creates a revolving door of employee turnover. It’s well known that employees don’t leave organizations, they leave managers. Since we know this, why do we keep making the same mistakes over and over again?
When hiring new employees, most organizations use some type of screening or assessment process to determine which candidates are a good match for the job. However, companies often skip this critical step when filling leadership roles. Instead, they just promote a high-performing employee and hope for the best.
There is a better way.
Knowing for Sure
More world-class organizations are discovering the value of simulation-based leadership assessments to identify and develop strong leaders. Leadership simulations allow employees who are aspiring to leadership roles to experience the challenges of managing others in safe, simulated conditions. Organizations can accurately determine the readiness of an employee to take on a leadership role, and employees can learn about their leadership potential and areas for improvement.
Leadership simulations help organizations put the right people, with the right skills and attributes, into the right leadership positions. For instance, Employment Technologies’ Leadership Simulation is proven to identify leaders who are two to five times more likely to manage effectively and set a positive example for their teams.
Our award-winning EASy Simulations offer an engaging online experience for candidates while placing comprehensive results and tracking at your fingertips.
Discover how to hire and promote top leaders—and avoid the Boss from Hell. For a free test-drive of our Leadership Simulation, click here or call at 888.332.0648. With a job simulation assessment, hiring great leaders is easier than you think!
Want to learn more about the qualities of the best and worst managers? Check out this recent Forbes article.