What is it that makes a great manager? And what are behaviours that make managers struggle? These are question that many of us would like to have an answer to. Internet giant Google Inc. went on a hunt to find the answers. Based on some extensive research that involved interviews with their managers, surveys of their employees, and regression analysis of things such as job performance and employee satisfaction, Google was able to identify these eight behaviours that make a great manager in Google
- Is a good coach
- Empowers the team and does not micromanage
- Expresses interest / concern for team members’ success and personal wellbeing
- Is productive and results-orientated
- Is a good communicator – listens and shares information
- Helps with career development
- Has a clear vision / strategy for the team
- Has important technical skills that help him / her advice the team
In addition to the eight behaviours they have identified for a good manager, they also narrowed down on the top 3 causes why managers are struggling in their role:
- Has a tough transition (e.g. suddenly promoted, hired from outside with little training)
- Lacks a consistent philosophy / approach to performance management and career development
- Spends too little time on managing and communicating.
Google has acted on these insights and have started to measure their managers against these behaviours through twice-yearly feedback surveys. This has allowed them to put in place early warning systems to detect both great and struggling managers. Google has also revised its management training in light of these findings.
My question to you is do you agree with these findings? Do you think the 8 qualities of a good manager in Google are also right for your organisation? Please let me know what you think.
What Google did is something that many companies are lacking, they had a management question: ‘What makes a good manager?’ and instead of just going on gut feel and anecdotal evidence, they collected data and facts to find an answer to their question. You might want to check out my book ‘The Intelligent Company’ in which I explore many other examples of how fact-based decisions drive real performance improvements.
As always, please feel free to connect
On LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/bernardmarr
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You might also want to watch Kathryn Dekas from Google talking about their approach and how they discovered their 8 behaviors in the video: People Analytics: Using Data to Drive HR Strategy and Action which you can find here: http://www.ap-institute.com/api-tv.aspx
In the meantime, please comment and share your views…
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