Times of change present many challenges for organizations, particularly for frontline managers
whose people will be responsible for implementing the change. Pressure to perform is high, as
are emotions and everyone is expected to do more with less.
The effects of poor frontline management may be particularly damaging at service companies
where researchers have consistently detected a causal relationship between the attitudes and
behaviors of customer-facing employees on the one hand and customer perception of service
quality on the other. In service industries, research has found three factors drive performance:
the work climate; the ways teams act together and the ways that things are done; and the
engagement, commitment, and satisfaction of employees. Leadership – particularly the quality of
supervision and the nature of the relationships between supervisors and their teams – is crucial to
performance in each of these areas.
This fact inspired us to identify six keys to unlock the potential of frontline managers:
- Identify employees with the capability and interest to be
good managers - Help your managers clarify their teams’ goals and the roles
each team member has in achieving those goals - Help your managers understand the people they manage
- Help your managers understand themselves and how they
impact their people - Don’t assume your managers know how or when to coach
their employee - Minimize administrative work to give managers more time
to develop people
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