What annoys me this one asking for training and monopolizing the floor during meetings! It’s “sir-know-it-all”, he adds to it and he would almost be giving me advice, à la Dutronc Don’t do this, don’t do that, come here, stand there…. In his field he is very good but he is content to do what is indicated on his job description. There, I’m going to reframe him in front of everyone, because he has to understand who’s the boss. Strange, the HRD advised me on the contrary to “make it grow”. “The question would rather be: ‘why make it grow?’, explains Chantal Emore, consultant in positive managerial coaching at Esteam European Search. “There are two types of managers. Those who have enough self-confidence and for whom it is natural to develop their team members. And those who lock it all in.” They need to learn that progression is part of professional life and part of their job.
Oxygenate, go out, see people
They doubt, are afraid. “It may be the fear that the employee will leave if he is trained, that he will take his place or that this approach will be useless”. Managers who prefer to do “instead of” to save time or maintain control. They end up drowning. “To them I say: ‘learn to delegate, you can’t do everything!’ I tell them that their team is their strong point. They have every interest in making it more efficient because it will reflect on them !” advises Chantal Emore. How ? By studying personalities to know what can be delegated, to whom and how. Through training, a person who is already good in his field can become an expert. Moreover, the manager who hesitates to give a mission that he considers difficult, can imagine that this work which bores him can be appreciated by someone else. For the tasks that he masters, “he will have to share them by sitting next to his colleague for an hour or half a day, to show them to him. We are in the transmission and, however, for many managers , it seems complicated to transfer one’s knowledge”. Training is also essential. “Intern to discover the reality experienced by other employees, and intra to deepen a subject specific to the company”. Finally, encourage teams to register for forums, conferences, groups on LinkedIn, subscribe to specialized journals. “This allows your employees to get out of the company, to breathe fresh air, to meet counterparts and to come back with new ideas useful to your company. You must then ask them for a report in a team meeting on what ‘they learned and brainstorm what it can bring”.
Listen, spend time
Diane Rakotonanahary, work psychologist and professional coach, is not comfortable with the notion of “making an employee grow” which she considers a bit infantilizing. “It is important to consider your colleagues as adults”. However, she believes that the role of the manager is to come down every morning to rediscover the reality on the ground, to accompany, to be “side by side” with the members of his team. Do not wait for annual evaluations, but regularly ask them about their desires “in the next three or six months” and discuss their professional problems to help them over time. She does not speak of “comfort zone”, but of “zone of effort” for switchboard operators in contact with the wrath of those who call. Training, feedback and, for the manager, taking the call from the angry.
Finally, for Jean-Paul Lugan, neurocoach, trainer and director of Lugan & Partners, progress goes through three types of tests. The first is that of “uncertainty”, to see how the colleague will overcome it, for example by entrusting him with a new file. Then, “the test of the social link” to discover how it is in its relationships with others. The animation of a meeting shows if he has allies, if he is authoritarian. The third test is “identity”. Questioning yourself by going abroad, to another establishment in the group or even by changing jobs or departments. Understand the differences. “Learning in difficulty is an asset. We become resilient”. Something to ponder for the many Alumni in a managerial position who say that “allowing other people to achieve their full potential” during their professional life would make them “proud” (Ipsos- BCG CGE- professional aspirations of young talents, March 2021).