There it was, another “we’ve got too many bad bosses” article. This one was on the HBR Blogs site, titled: “How Damaging Is a Bad Boss, Exactly?” by Jack Zenger and Joseph Folkman. Here’s a core section.
“Bad Bosses Negate Other Investments: As Clifton points out, none of the other expensive programs a company institutes to increase employee engagement — excellent rewards, well-thought-out career paths, stimulating work environments, EAP programs, health insurance, and other perks — will make much difference to the people stuck with bad bosses.
Good Bosses Lead Employees to Increase Revenue: And, as many other studies have shown, there’s a strong correlation between employee engagement, customer satisfaction, and revenue.”
Those are good points. And many observers agree that we have “too many bad bosses.” Alas, exactly what the job of a boss is and what constitutes poor, acceptable, and excellent performance are not defined. That lack of definition is part of the problem.
So let’s start by defining what a boss is supposed to do. I suggest that it’s helping the team accomplish the mission and helping the team members succeed and develop. Today, most boss jobs are about oversight (catching people doing things wrong) and not enabling success.
Once you define what a boss is supposed to do, you can define the areas of performance that should be assessed and how that assessment should happen. You can also develop a system that is more likely to turn out more good bosses.
Let’s re-define the move from individual contributor to boss as a change in role and not a change in status. Today, becoming a boss is a promotion. That makes it much harder to unwind if you choose poorly.
Let’s choose bosses differently. Today most are chosen by people above them or through some formal “testing process.” Let’s move to a system where people get temporary assignments that let them try on the role and let others evaluate how they do. Then let’s select based on what we observe and add potential peers and subordinates to the evaluators.
Let’s change the way we train and support bosses. Being a boss is a doing discipline. It’s an apprentice trade that you learn mostly on the job. Let’s use a “field training” program that pairs experienced bosses with new ones and lasts for at least a year. Supplement that with limited formal training, group discussion among newer bosses, and a robust peer support system.
Wringing our hands about how many bad bosses there are won’t change anything. Let’s treat this as a system problem and set about doing things differently.
