Five Charcteristics of Talented Managers

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Five Characteristics of Talented Managers

Great managers can fix broken performance management

systems

Chris Groscurth

Published: 07/14/2015

Globally, companies are scrambling to reengineer their performance management processes.

Unfortunately, many of these initiatives have the wrong priorities.

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Too many leaders rely on convoluted human resources processes and rigid rating systems that are

time-consuming and disengaging for managers and employees. Although its important to evaluate

performance, leaders must understand that excellent performance management requires more than

metrics.

To be effective, performance management requires streamlined processes, accurate and efficient

metrics, andthe frequently overlooked factorhighly talented managers. Gallups extensive

research and analysis, reported in State of the American Manager: Analytics and Advice for

Leaders, reveals that companies that hire managers based on their talent for the role realize a 48-

percent increase in profitability, a 22-percent increase in productivity, a 30-percent increase in

employee engagement scores, a 17-percent increase in customer engagement scores, and a 19-

percent decrease in turnover.

Because talented managers have a knack for leading, motivating, and developing others, they

engage their employees and achieve strong outcomes. Great managers can overcome a broken

performance management process. For leaders seeking to revitalize their approach, manager talent

is a good place to start.

To find great managers who can overhaul a broken performance management system, leaders first

need to understand what these managers are made of, and what they are doing right. Here's how

great managers deliver performance.

Great managers are innately talented in five specific dimensions. The top-performing

managers Gallup has studied come from different regions and different industries, but they all

share a similar set of inherent talents. Gallup describes and assesses these traits using five talent

dimensions:

Motivation. High-talent managers challenge themselves and their teams to continually improve

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and deliver distinguished performance.

Assertiveness. High-talent managers overcome challenges, adversities, and resistance.

Accountability. High-talent managers ultimately assume responsibility for their teams

performance and create the structure and processes to help their teams deliver on expectations.

Relationships. High-talent managers build a positive, engaging work environment where their

teams create strong relationships with one another and with clients.

Decision-making. High-talent managers solve the many complex issues and problems inherent

to the role by thinking ahead, planning for contingencies, balancing competing interests, and

taking an analytical approach.

The experience and skills managers have accumulated are important, but their innate talentsthe

naturally recurring patterns in the way they think, feel, and behavemore accurately predict

performance. High talent in managers is linked to individual and organizational outcomes,

including increased employee engagement, productivity, and profitability.

Great managers build engagement through strengths-based development. To help employees

reach their full potential, great managers tend to take a strengths-based approach. The majority of

managers with high talent (61%) say they leverage and develop their employees strengths or

positive characteristics when managing, compared with just 5 percent who say that they correct

employees weaknesses or negative characteristics.

Gallup has found that building employees strengths is a far more effective approach than trying to

improve their weaknesses. When employees know and use their strengths, they are more engaged,

have higher performance outcomes, and are less likely to leave their company.

Great managers foster high performance by motivating and caring. The best managers

understand and relate to employees inherent human motivations. They build genuine relationships

and demonstrate that they carenot just about employees work lives but about their personal



lives as well. Employees who feel they can talk to their manager about anything, or that their

manager invests in them as people, are more likely to be engaged than their co-workers who dont

strongly agree with these statements.

For great managers, the crucial soft aspects of management come naturally, helping them

connect with and motivate their employees. By getting to know their team members as people

first, they take into account each employees unique qualities while managing toward high

performance.

Great managers engage in ongoing performance management activities. Sustained high

performance requires regular work on the managers part. These are some specific activities great

managers make a habit of doing:

Goal setting. Employee performance goals should align with business strategies at all levels.

Great managers set and tailor goals with individual employeesbuilding ownership for

organizational objectives among team members. Gallup recently found that 69 percent of

employees who strongly agree that their manager helps them set performance goals are engaged,

compared with 8-percent engagement among employees who strongly disagree with the statement.

Reliable and meaningful communication. Employees want their managers to be open and

approachable. Consistent communication helps employees feel safe and supported, and it builds a

productive workplace in which people feel comfortable enough to experiment, to challenge, to

share information, and to support one another. Great managers ensure healthy communication,

which is a behavior that fosters engagement. Employees whose managers meet regularly with

them are almost three times as likely to be engaged as employees whose managers dont meet with

them regularly.

Frequent discussions about responsibilities and accountability. Employees require more than

a written job description; they need to completely understand their role and how it aligns with

others work, particularly during times of change. Although helping employees understand their

responsibilities might seem easy, it takes talent to do it right. Great managers dont just tell

employees whats expected of them. They also frequently talk with employees about their

responsibilities and progress. Instead of saving performance conversations for annual reviews,

they provide ongoing feedback, which engages employees. Gallup analysis from 2013 shows that

50 percent of employees who strongly agree that their manager holds them accountable for

performance were engaged, compared with 3 percent who strongly disagree.

Clearly, great managers have it in their power to take their teams performance to new heights. For

effective performance management, organizations need these high-talent managers and their

performance-driving practices.

Copyright 2015 by Gallup Inc. All rights reserved. The content is used with permission;

however, Gallup retains all rights of republication.

About The Author

Chris Groscurth

Chris Groscurth, Ph.D., senior practice consultant, is an expert in leadership effectiveness,

individual and team assessment, and organizational development at Gallup.



2015 Quality Digest Magazine. Copyright on content held by Quality Digest or by individual

authors. Contact Quality Digest for reprint information.

Source URL (retrieved on 07/18/2015): http://www.qualitydigest.com/inside/quality-insider-

column/071415-five-characteristics-talented-managers.html

Links:

[1] http://www.gallup.com/services/182138/state-american-manager.aspx

[2] http://www.gallup.com/businessjournal/183098/report-separates-great-managers-rest.aspx?

utm_source=ALL_GBJ_HEADLINES&utm_medium=topic&utm_campaign=tiles

[3] http://www.gallup.com/businessjournal/182378/one-people-possess-talent-manage.aspx?

utm_source=ALL_GBJ_HEADLINES&utm_medium=topic&utm_campaign=tiles

[4] http://www.gallup.com/businessjournal/182321/employees-lot-managers.aspx

[5] http://www.gallup.com/businessjournal/183770/great-managers-fix-broken-performance-

management-systems.aspx?utm_source=WWWV7HP&utm_medium=topic&utm_campaign=tiles



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Five Charcteristics of Talented Managers