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The qualities of a good manager
A company should always give the utmost consideration to the profiles it wishes to integrate into the position of manager. If he or she must be a leader, passionate about numbers, but also a fervent player and promoter of success, the candidate for the position of manager must also be able to adapt to any organisational changes within the company. The emphasis is on change management, a project that depends heavily on managers to be successful. In order to identify the right manager profiles, companies need to compare these contexts with the skills expected of the manager.
Why is a manager with change management skills a good profile?
"All change is disruptive". This statement remains valid in companies when it comes to making changes, reforms or reorganisations that directly affect employees. Change management is about taking these restructurings into account and bringing stability to the new model despite the change. Effective and far-reaching change management will therefore have to be put in place, and the manager is the first to be affected. He or she must make all the necessary adjustments. For example, in terms of skills, budget or work organisation. The aim is for the change to be successful and to bear fruit.
A good change manager also acts as a mediator. Thanks to him, change is not perceived as an unfavourable situation. On the contrary, he or she must play with his or her own skills to embody this process as an opportunity. In addition, a good change manager must also help to find a role for each employee within the new organisation.
How to judge a good change manager?
The process of change within an organisation is slow. Moreover, each company experiences this experience differently depending on its activity, size, the reforms it wishes to undertake, etc. However, management specialists have identified two specific cases of change management:
Individual changes
This type of change management is certainly the one most often identified in companies. In fact, in order to bring out new talent in an existing group and to improve productivity in a given sector, managers carry out what experts call " individual change management ". This means dealing with change individually, for each employee. In this case, it is often in the greatest confusion that the manager generally acts as a relay point. It is from him or her that information flows down and up. The manager thus plays a key role in maintaining a pleasant working atmosphere in his or her team, despite the changes.
From this individual perspective, a good change manager must have a good sense of communication and a strong ability to evaluate his team. He or she must be able to quickly identify the strengths and areas of performance of each individual.
Organisational changes
Parallèlement à ces changements individuels, l’organisation connaît généralement des restructurations fonctionnelles ou opérationnelles plus globales. Il faudra alors savoir donner la place adéquate à chaque collaborateur, et ce au sein du système adéquat. Dans ce cas, un bon manager du change management doit savoir anticiper les difficultés d’intégration que peuvent rencontrer les salariés à leurs nouvelles places. Ils pourront ensuite entreprendre des formations internes ou externes, des ateliers de sensibilisation au leadership et à l’encadrement, pour asseoir leur position.
A word about the author
Christiane DUMONT from 'Blog du management'.
