Management or Leadership! Part II

The longer you are in business, the more people you hire, the more subjective you are to making the wrong decision when hiring a Manager. There will be situations wherein you suspect you have a Manager that is creating a negative spirit within your store. If not recognized and corrected, it can have a detrimental affect on your business, revenue and corresponding income! The longer the situation persists, the more severe one Manager with bad Management and or lack of Leadership skills can adversely affect the business! As in all maladies in our personal health, it is important to detect the problem early and take appropriate action! Some of the “red flags” that will be a manifestation of lack of Leadership problems within your management follow.

1. A sudden influx of customer complaints that reach your level of involvement. (A good customer complaint hot line or contact can be invaluable to allay complaints!)

2. A discernible attitude change (negative) or lack of enthusiasm with the sales crew in the store.

3. A high level of employee turnover in the store. (Exit interviews of employees resigning or terminations should be standard procedure.)

4. Visits to operations to observe sales procedures, store conditions, employee discussions etc.

5. The most obvious may be a sudden reverse in store sales, inventory shortages etc.!

These are just a few examples. Employee evaluations also designed for feedback and improvement of the person are other tools that can be synonymous with determining management and leadership skills as well as employee needs or discontent! I have developed these tools for many retailers in the past, both individual operations as well as large chain operations!

Please remember the differences between a “normal” Manager and a Manager with Leadership skills and the affect one or the other will have on your results!
Here are some examples of how a "mere manager" would verbalize issues or execute them:
Managers
Uses the word I
Gives orders
Fixes blame for problems
Does not know employees other than work related situations
Does not praise or reward
Posts orders on a regular
Refers disagreements in policy to corporate or ownership i.e. "not my idea!"
Team waits for Manager to give direction

On the other hand the Manager/Leader would relate to those same situations as:
Always uses the word you, team, Synergy etc.!
Explains and shows by example and follows up on all tasks or directives!
Inquires about employees domestic situations, family, hobbies, interests etc.
Meets with employees and gets involved with them to find solutions!
Holds daily team meetings issuing goals, recapping results, giving praise etc.
Carefully explains why people are asked to do what they do, holds evaluation sessions etc.!
Each employee has a job description and understands performance goals, task responsibilities etc.

I have geared this article as it relates to store Managers as opposed to Manager/Leaders. However, many of the same applications apply to multi unit supervisors (Managers) in addition to other detection, skills and observations! Leadership expectations of a multi unit supervisor are even more tantamount to the success of your business!

Randy Snyder is a regular author with Salesheads. His background includes over 30 years of executive management in four national chains, 15 years of consulting
experience including franchise development. He can be reached at rsnyder921@aol.com or (p) 139 481 0844.