Peter Drucker’s views on the “management of people” reflect building a culture that the knowledge worker can thrive in, strong communication with directs and most importantly the drive for performance tied to results.

With the increasing amount of people graduating from colleges and universities today, managers will be responsible for developing knowledge workers and teaching them new skills. In the industrial society, one who use to have a role in welding and machining could have the opportunity to be promoted and move up the ranks to top management. The development of skills was the foreman teaching and assisting the workers to weld, or machine parts and have something tangible at the end. This physical action and method of knowledge was mainstream in its time; business in a factory was to move step by step and make sure each step resulted in an end product.

Today, this is not the case. A manager in charge of a hospital cannot develop the skills of a surgeon by giving him on the job training in surgery. One in charge of a retail building cannot train product knowledge or sales techniques whilst managing the building. Today, knowledge workers are not just subordinates, they are associates that work alongside the manager. The worker in a specialized industry or an industry focused on “intangibles” must know more about their job than the boss does, so the boss can manage effectively and focus on driving everyone to attaining results.

So if the “associates” are not “subordinates”, what does the manager manage? Does not the influence of role power and being higher in rank help define who the boss is? Isn’t it important that the manager understand and has all the knowledge and details of everything below her? What does a manager do then?

These are all valid questions, as we never ask them unless they need to be questioned.

• Does the influence of role power and being higher in rank not matter as a boss? – The role you have as a manager does define power within the corporation; however, it is not this power that manages people. It is the task of leading people. The associate does depend on you to hire, fire, promote, appraise, set targets and build team structure. For this to work effectively, both parties cannot be working in a silo. Continuous conversation and feedback of actions leading to results need to occur, and this is a part of the manager paving direction and letting the worker know what the score is, not imposing role power to “influence” one into attaining the results.

 

• Shouldn’t the manager know everything? How can a manager manage a restaurant or kitchen without knowing how to teach those how to serve or cook? How can one achieve results without this? – The linkage between a superior and a direct does not necessarily have to do with knowledge. The link that does occur is the execution that leads to results and the accountability for both individuals. The knowledge society we are in today has changed the structure from boss-worker to one like an orchestra, where there is a conductor and many instrumentalists. Does the conductor need to know how to play every instrument in the orchestra, from bass to drums to violin? No, as this would make him ineffective as he would have to spend more time learning what he does not do instead of managing what he needs to manage. The role of the manager is to give direction, build a culture with values, communicate and to give direction with standards in order for the associate to perform. The only way to derive the standard of performance are to tie them to results. In an orchestra, timing is key, impact is key and emotional response from the audience is key. It is irrelevant if you are playing the violin or the piano, all the standards comply and can be judged (musical timing, audience reaction, ticket sales in the case of a symphony).

 

• How can a manager develop the associate today? – A manager in the establishment of the company’s direction must build and create a culture by engaging their associates. Trust, communication, feedback and coaching are ways to positively impact the individual’s behavior and performance. The sense of urgency to continuously improve one’s skills is critical. Tiger Woods is considered the best golf player of our time, yet he doesn’t sit around all day and perform exceptionally when he reaches tournaments. He practices on the course and continuously sets higher standards for himself. Talent is over-rated; it is the continuous habits of actions that lead to exceptional performance. The manager can help accelerate this process of learning by providing resources, setting up training seminars and giving continuous feedback on behaviors that are impacting overall results either positively or negatively. We do not “manage people”, we manage their behaviors.

 

Developing a culture that breeds success, consistently communicating and observing the associate along with directing them to success and closing the gap between behaviors and their impact to the overall corporate results is the “golden ticket” to managing individuals today.

Helping your orchestra play a beautiful piece will not only result in your musicians achieving success and build pride, but will help you move up in your career as well!