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Training and Resources for Director Level staff
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Training and Resources for Director Level staff
Discuss workforce management, performance management, retention, communication, motivation, contributing to business results and other topics.
I am fairly new to my company and have discovered that so are the majority of the Senior level staff. Since hired with the company I've had to coach several directors on staffing issues ranging from c
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Forums » Topic Forums » General Forum » Training and Resources for Director Level staff
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Training and Resources for Director Level staff
posted at 3/2/2009 9:46 AM EST
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Posts: 2
First: 3/2/2009 Last: 3/6/2009 |
I am fairly new to my company and have discovered that so are the majority of the Senior level staff. Since hired with the company I've had to coach several directors on staffing issues ranging from communication techniques to non-performance.
I have one director who I've have multiple "counseling" sessions with to assist her to better manage her staff. She is highly competent in her technical abilities and understands that her weakness is staff relations. She gets along great with other co-workers OUTSIDE of her department, but has created (almost) mutiny and paranoia with her subordinates. She has attended several supervisor trainings, but I feel that she is just "not getting it." Once she has made up her mind about one of her staff (whether good or bad), she will not waiver in her opinion. This has created tension between her and her staff and also her perpetuating issues amongst her staff. I am looking for any resources or training that would assist her. Since I am not her supervisor, I have communicated these issues with her immediate supervisor. Thank you for any help and assistance you can provide 
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Training and Resources for Director Level staff
posted at 3/2/2009 11:38 AM EST
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Posts: 544
First: 9/27/2004 Last: 9/13/2011 |
might be time to attack this from the "other end" and call a retreat with all of her staff and air these differences out in the open - time to hold the staff accountable too.
1 - they probably know she has been called on the carpet 2 - they have a certain amount of power over her future because of this 3 - they may not be over their past resentments 4 - until they can forgive past regressions (real or imagined), they will not accept that she can change and will not accept responsibility for their own behavior in this dysfunctional dynamic 5 - groups always go backwards before they move forwards, but sometimes they get stuck in a negative loop and they have to be lead out of it. If your company is backing this supervisor, she needs your support |
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Training and Resources for Director Level staff
posted at 3/2/2009 1:13 PM EST
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Posts: 108
First: 4/15/2007 Last: 8/17/2009 |
Mmckinsey, Im not sure if you have had counseling (disciplinary) or coaching sessions with the director or both. This is important as it will alter the dynamic of the sessions. If it is disciplinary, this may put the director in defensive mode and not in learning mode.
In this kind of situation, I would normally recommend sessions with an experienced and professional coach who would work with the director on specific behavior issues. An experienced coach would explore possible responses to situations, help the coach decide on a course of action, develop the skills to carry it out, gauge and reflect on results, etc. This kind of coaching works because it gets to the core of deeply personal roadblocks to more effective behavior, which I suspect is the problem in this case. I dont want to detract from deltacs valuable suggestions about breaking the cycle. I do want to add a cautionary note. If the director has not acquired new management skills AND the retreat is led by someone else, she may appear as a puppet to her reports. After the retreat, she will still need to go back to the toxic workplace she created with no/little skills to embed the changes discussed at the retreat. However, if the retreat is facilitated by the director after she has made some progress in being coached by a professional, then I can see the potential for great benefit. As another option, if you have tried your best and the directors skills are not improving, you may need to cut her loose. Sometimes the hard decisions need to be made for the sake of the company. Les Allan Author: Managing Change in the Workplace www.businessperform.com/html/managing_change.html |
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Training and Resources for Director Level staff
posted at 3/5/2009 12:04 PM EST
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Posts: 544
First: 9/27/2004 Last: 9/13/2011 |
Thank you for clarifying Les, I did leave out that the retreat should be facilitated by a skilled neutral party with the supervisor present and well-prepared before hand.
I don't mean to get up on a podium, but I don't think one-way interventions work when the problem is two-way. Even if the supervisor makes all the changes, the people she has led may not be ready to let go of the past and accept that she has changed. I helped with an intervention last year, the department director got some of the worst feedback I'd ever seen. Among other things, we learned that one of the staff had been carrying a resentment over something that happened 7 years ago, it was heart-breaking. BTW, They are doing much better now. And you are right, it may be necessary to take her out of the leadership position. It was mentioned that the supervisor is an good technician, sometimes good technicians make lousy bosses because they are so reliant on what they know and are not skilled in, or even interested in, bringing out the best in others. Expert power sometimes makes people more competative. |
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Training and Resources for Director Level staff
posted at 3/6/2009 5:22 AM EST
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Posts: 2
First: 3/2/2009 Last: 3/6/2009 |
Many thanks to the both of you. Your input is very helpful. As part of my plan, we will be bringing in an outside "mediator" to assist the department get back on track. I have had a similar situation in another department, but because of the positive mind-set of the director, we have been successful in rebuiling the working relationships and team within the department.
I guess this is truly a management vs. leadership situation. |
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