Retail Operations - Effective Branch Manager Support And Guidance

Written by Anthony Dance


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- The area manager will go into fault finding mode rather than helping find solutions.

- The area manager may start questioningrepparttar branch manager’s ability to dorepparttar 135938 job.

Many managers have inrepparttar 135939 past gone to their area mangers for advice and support on team performance issues but received such a negative, unhelpful reply that many were put off from ever doing so again, even when they changed to a different area manager.

There is also a feeling that area managers themselves do not know what to do either. “Bring me solutions not problems” is a common comment heard by branch managers when they have taken a ‘people’ issue to their area manager.

Offering support and guidance

It is a fact that very few area managers actively encourage branch managers to talk about their ‘people’ issues or are prepared to probe belowrepparttar 135940 surface to identify possible performance or behaviour problems that may be affectingrepparttar 135941 business. There are many examples where area managers have placed managers in ‘problem’ branches without preparing them forrepparttar 135942 issues they will face or helped or supported them once they have taken uprepparttar 135943 position. Basically they throw them torepparttar 135944 wolves and then leave them to get on with it.

Another common issue is whenrepparttar 135945 assistant manager ofrepparttar 135946 branch is turned down forrepparttar 135947 manager position. Very few area managers are competent in explaining why an individual was not appointed and give excuses rather than valid reasons. This results inrepparttar 135948 new manager having to experience considerable hostility and resentment from not only their deputy but from many ofrepparttar 135949 team also.

Why do many area managers not offer support or guidance or dig belowrepparttar 135950 surface looking for performance issues? There are a number of reasons for this.

Unconscious Competence

There is a saying that

“Good Management will result in good people staying and not-so-good people either improving or leaving. Where as Bad Management will result in good people leaving and not-so-good people staying and possibly getting even worse”.

During their time as branch managers, many area managers did not experience risky, difficult or complicated people issues. If they did, they often resolved them unconsciously. They just acted as good managers should, which resulted inrepparttar 135951 issues being resolved quickly. Ask any manager who is competent in performance or behaviour management “how do you do it or what do you do?” and you will probably receive a shrug ofrepparttar 135952 shoulders and a comment like “I don’t know specifically, I just do it” (Unconscious Competence)

Unconscious competence is not acceptable at area management level as a key requirement ofrepparttar 135953 job is to coach and train branch managers in performance management. Area managers can only fulfil this critical function if they know exactly what is to be done and how to do it. (Conscious competence)

Conscious Incompetence

Unfortunately there are area managers in existence who ‘know’ they are not personally competent in dealing with performance and behaviour issues and will go to great lengths not to expose this weakness to others. (Conscious incompetence) These area managers tend to encourage branch managers to not make waves, maintainingrepparttar 135954 status quo and to tolerate rather than develop. They certainly do not dig belowrepparttar 135955 surface in a branch seeking ‘people’ issues that may be affectingrepparttar 135956 business.

One ofrepparttar 135957 most disappointing comments I heard from a seasoned area manager when asked why he was not supporting his managers was “I am not allowed to get involved as I amrepparttar 135958 next step ofrepparttar 135959 appeal process”.

A good measure of an area manager’s competence is to look atrepparttar 135960 performance and behaviour ofrepparttar 135961 area manager’s branch manager team. It is pretty certain that if they cannot coach and encourage branch mangers inrepparttar 135962 tackling of performance and behaviour issues then you can be sure they themselves are not tackling branch manager performance or behaviour issues.

Possible Solutions

If a retail organisation needs to tackle performance or behaviour issues at branch levels, I believe they need to developrepparttar 135963 skills and competence of performance management at area management level first as area managers alone haverepparttar 135964 authority and arerepparttar 135965 biggest influence on branch manager effectiveness.

Unconscious competent area managers need to become consciously competent so they can not only develop others but also develop themselves further. Conscious incompetent area managers need to admit that they are not effective in performance or behaviour management and be prepared to learn and developrepparttar 135966 necessary skills. If they are not prepared to do so then they themselves need to be performance managed byrepparttar 135967 company. After all, Executives cannot demand that branch managers tackle performance and behaviour issues one moment and then not do so themselves when they need to. That isn’t leading by example.

Anthony Dance is managing director of outlook management development, a retail performance management and management development organisation. He is also an accomplished speaker on performance management issues and has over 15 years experience in senior operations roles. He can be contacted through his web site www.outlookretail.com


CellWireless’s Compensation plan

Written by Michael Fleidervish


Continued from page 1
Besides offeringrepparttar best rates for international and domestic long-distance, we're offering you convenience: •Make International Calls from your cell phone while you travel •Use your unlimited nights & weekend minutes to make international calls •No pin to dial or buying any more calling cards •No hidden fees or charges •Monitor call usage and billing online CellWireless Compensation plan for small businesses. If you’re a small business owner this plan can help you save on all of your calling, in-state, state-to-state, or internationally. You can enroll allrepparttar 135935 telephones in your company into one account or open several sub-accounts counts to take advantage of our incredible rates. You can not only save but also consolidate your bills in an easy to manage on-line account. Further, if your work requires travel, your CellWireless Compensation plan is portable and can be used from any phone anywhere inrepparttar 135936 country so your savings travel with you. The CellWireless Compensation plan for domestic callers. Our rate for all state-to-state and in-state calls is less than what nearly all major telecommunication companies offer and we have no monthly charges. Switching to this plan can save you up to 80% on your phone bill. Forget about phone cards with their PINs and hidden charges. The CellWireless Compensation plan for international callers. This amazing plan offersrepparttar 135937 lowest available rates to over 200 countries with no monthly charges. Our rates over 100 countries can be reached for less than a dime a minute. There is no cheaper way to call aroundrepparttar 135938 world. http://www.cellwireless.com/shmuel84

Michael Fleidervish - PhD - CellWireless's Distributor


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