MOTIVATION, MANAGER TO MANAGER
By Gene Levine - www.genelevine.com
I recently visited a potential client, the CEO of a very large company. We quickly got into discussing his biggest problem – motivating top management. He told me that although he paid the manager of the company’s factories well, the manager’s performance had steadily declined. He went on to show me a complex incentive plan designed to improve the manager’s performance, and said exasperatingly, "Had my manager responded to this plan, his pay today would have easily exceeded six figures!"
The CEO further lamented that the factories were not making as much money as they used to and that deliveries and quality were causing major problems with customers. As the CEO revealed his manager’s incentive plan, I mentally noted that rather than trying to get at the core of the problems, he had simply been waving money in front of the manager to create a bonus opportunity. What surprised the CEO was that his manager had not responded to ever-increasing bonus levels. When I asked what he thought the reasons were, he shrugged off my question saying, "I can’t figure this guy out; that’s why I brought you in to help us."
In examining the incentive plan, it was quite simple – the thrust was money for performance. The manager had to increase the factories’ performance with tools already at his disposal. So with the opportunity to earn six figures, wouldn't it appear that any manager would work harder to improve his performance? Well, not exactly . . .
In the end, we discovered the reason the manager did not improve was that he could not. It turned out that the CEO himself was the obstacle. His management style was unknowingly limiting achievements, and in fact, stymieing the manager’s potential. But let’s go back to the beginning of our case history.
THE PROBLEMS:
As we know, the attitudes, performance and motivational skills of a CEO or his/her home office top management team will undoubtedly influence the performance of other managers. And in this case, the influence was negative.
A careful study of the corporation revealed that the CEO was clinging to traditional, outdated business methods and continually rejecting employees’ suggestions on ways to improve operations. Moreover, there was no evident business plan in place; no formal costing; and no quality, production techniques or policy manuals. As a result, the business operated by rote and most decisions were crisis oriented.
Once I had reviewed these findings with the CEO, he agreed to retain me for a more in-depth study. So I set off to investigate operations in the home office and at the factories. Upon meeting the manager, I found him to be quite professional. I related the problems I had discussed with the CEO and he rapidly produced documented evidence countering the CEO’s claims. He showed me comprehensive reports to the home office that showed that materials, findings and other required items all too often arrived late, short or were wrong, etc.
I also reviewed some of the documents that had been sent from the home office to the factories. They showed conclusively that quality and cost controls varied according to the pressure that was levied on the factories by the sales force. Other documents showed daily schedule revisions authorized by a variety of sales personnel (who obviously had proprietary interests in their accounts).
There were also a number of letters that had been sent to the CEO from the manager explaining how the home office was causing many of the problems. Each letter pointed out the problems and causes, offered a suggested solution and asked – sometimes even pleaded for the CEO to personally visit the plants.
According to the manager, the CEO ignored the letters. In substantiating the manager’s claim, I discovered that the CEO had not visited the factories in more than 10 years. As I discussed the situation with the manager, I was particularly interested in this comment he made about the CEO: "He keeps offering me bonuses to improve. But how can I improve when he controls the very things that would allow me to improve?"
I proceeded to conduct interviews with many of the employees, with the intent of surfacing problems and searching for ways to solve them. (I’ve found this to be the best technique since those who do the actual jobs often have the best ideas for improvements.)
The first multifaceted question was, "What would you change if you were placed in charge of the company tomorrow?" and "How would each change improve the company and make it more productive?" The second very important question was, "What do you . . ."
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