“So, what you are telling me is that you were overpaying lead technicians under the guise of supervisor. And you couldn’t figure out why they all underperformed?” I asked.

Valerie was shaking her head. They were in the process of hiring three managers to replace six supervisors.

“Well, it’s hard to explain,” she began. “I mean, I think the biggest difference between a supervisor and a manager, is just more experience and we have to pay a manager more. But they should do a better job and be able to handle more.”

“Handle more, what?”

“You know, handle more!” Valerie exclaimed.

“Valerie, if you can’t explain it to me, how will you explain it to your new managers, I mean supervisors.”

Valerie looked for help from the ceiling, then to her right. “We just need someone who can do a better job, I don’t know how to explain it any better than that.”

“So, you are going to try to hire someone with a bit more experience who still may not be right for the job?” -TF

“That’s why we decided to get rid of our six supervisors and hire three managers to replace them,” Valerie explained. “The three managers will work with a lead technician on each crew.”

“Tell me why you eliminated the supervisor layer?” I asked.

“They weren’t really doing the job. At the pay rate, we weren’t getting our money’s worth. We think if we pay a little bit more, we can get a better person. That’s why we decided having three managers would be better than having six supervisors.”

“Valerie, I am a bit disturbed about the way you have structured the accountabilities. Let’s talk about the general expectations of a supervisor, you know, the ones you decided to get rid of.

“The primary role of the supervisor is to make sure the work gets done,” I continued. “The primary tools of the supervisor are schedules, checklists and meetings. It is the job of the supervisor to anticipate the required volume of work, make sure we have the right amount of materials on-hand to complete the tasks, schedule the proper equipment and assign the right number of people. During the day, as tasks are being completed, it is the job of the supervisor to monitor progress toward the daily goal.”

Valerie was almost laughing. “Well, I can tell you that is definitely NOT what our supervisors were doing, not even close.”

“And that’s not all,” I continued. “Supervisors should be looking ahead specifically to tomorrow and the rest of the week. They should be reviewing production demand for the rest of the month, making sure materials will be on-hand, that equipment will be available and that we have sufficient personnel.”

Valerie was smiling but shaking her head. “Not a chance,” she replied.

Wes was turning inward, thinking about his role. “I never really thought about the people system that I’m responsible for. I always thought of recruiting as a necessary evil. We never plan for it. Conducting interviews is always inconvenient. I fill a position as quick as I can, so I can get back to my real work as a manager.”

“And what real work is that?” I asked.

“You know, motivation issues, management issues,” Wes replied.

“Did you ever think that if you focused more on the recruiting side, the selection side that your issues related to motivation and management might disappear?” -TF

“And what is your most important system to think about when you are a manager?” I asked. Wes was beginning to see just how big his job really was.

He knew the answer to this question had to be something central, something core to the role of a manager. But, he was struggling. Not because he didn’t know the answer, but he had never really thought about it.

“What is the most difficult part of being a manager?” I followed up.

“That’s easy, it’s the people,” Wes replied.

“So, what’s the most important system to think about when you are a manager?” I repeated.

“The people system?” Wes floated.

I nodded. “Think about all the elements surrounding the members of your team. It’s pretty complicated stuff. First you have to decide on the roles that need to be played, then the skills necessary, the capability (measured in time span) necessary. You have to consider how to bring new people on to the team, what training is necessary. You have to test them to determine their skill level, design increasingly complex task sequences to find their failure points. You have to determine coaching times, mentoring times, recharging times, performance standards and goals. To be effective, as a manager, you have to create a system.” -TF

Wes was mulling over his role as a manager. “But, my days always seem to be filled with problems, some internal, some external, you know, with customers. In fact, we pride ourselves on prompt customer response. We are in a high demand, time is of the essence business. Yet, you say that a manager’s most important tasks have time spans of months. There are times when I have to respond, as a manager, within minutes. And we’re talking critical customer stuff.”

“It appears that way,” I replied. “But if you spend all your time responding to customer emergencies within minutes, then your life, your organization will be in constant and total chaos.”

Wes nodded. “Sometimes, no, most times, it seems like that.”

“How do you take the chaos out, and still respond to emergencies within minutes? Look at an organization whose life actually is emergencies, EMS. I will guarantee that when first responders show up on a medical scene, their actions are carefully designed into consistent systems that have been repetitively trained. Those systems are not ad hoc, but were created over long periods of time (time span) and are constantly reviewed and improved.

“What happens may appear rapid and spontaneous, but it is a system. When you think of the most important role of a manager, think system.” -TF