Reinventing Management
Professor Julian Birkinshaw
London Business School
Creating Happy Workplaces Conference
May 2014
Copyright Julian Birkinshaw 2014
Who are you happiest with?
Friends
3.3
Parents/relatives
3.0
Spouse
2.8
My children
2.7
Co-workers
2.6
Clients/customers
2.4
Alone
2.2
Boss
2.0
(Rating is on a 1-5 scale)
Copyright Julian Birkinshaw 2014
What problem was management
invented to solve?
• How to routinise
and standardise
work?
• How to maximise
employee discipline
and diligence?
Copyright Julian Birkinshaw 2014
What are today’s management
challenges?
• How do we change fast enough to
stay relevant in a turbulent world?
Agile
• How do we innovate boldly enough
to stay ahead of our competitors?
Innovative
• How do we create an organisation
where people are able and willing to
do their best work?
Engaging
Copyright Julian Birkinshaw 2014
Koontz & O’Donnell, Principles of Management, 1955
Copyright Julian Birkinshaw 2014
Broadening our concept of innovation
FROM NEW
PRODUCTS AND
SERVICES
TO NEW
WAYS OF
WORKING
Copyright Julian Birkinshaw 2014
Reinventing management at HCL
Technologies
• Employees first, customers
second
• Value is created by clientfacing employees
• Managers and support
functions serve them
through:
– Open 360º feedback
– Smart Service Desk
– You & I
Copyright Julian Birkinshaw 2014
Reinventing management:
challenge the underlying principle
How do we Coordinate Activities?
Bureaucracy
Emergence
Traditional Principle
Alternative Principle
Copyright Julian Birkinshaw 2014
Emergence
Shared Space: An intriguing analogy
Copyright Julian Birkinshaw 2014
Eliminating unnecessary processes
• 2001: Seeking growth
• Biggest blocker: the
budgeting process
• Solution: Eliminated
traditional budgeting, desk
heads now evaluated on
ROI versus peer units
5.1
4.1
3.5
3.2
2.6 2.6
01 02 03 04 05 06
Profit before tax for Wealth
Management (ex US) in CHF Billion
Copyright Julian Birkinshaw 2014
Experimenting with a non-bureaucratic
approach
Hypothesis:
Peer review is more effective than direct
oversight for managing the expense
claim process
Copyright Julian Birkinshaw 2014
A new management process
Hypothesis: Peer review is more effective than
bureaucracy for managing expense claims
Test group
Pre-measures of
costs, employee
satisfaction etc.
No sign-off required,
employees put their
expenses on-line for
all to see
Control group
After 4 months,
employees
happier, total
claims lower,
processing costs
lower
Standard sign-off
process for expense
claims
Copyright Julian Birkinshaw 2014
Part 2: Making it personal
Management:
“Enabling your employees to do
their best work”
Copyright Julian Birkinshaw 2014
Key features of effective management
What employees need
• Give your people
important work to do
• Provide them with
space
• Provide support when
it is needed
• Given people
recognition & praise
What they often get
• Confusing or unclear
objectives
• Micro-management and
meddling
• Lack of information, lack
of concern
• Limited or no feedback
Copyright Julian Birkinshaw 2014
Why don’t we do
what we know we should?
Copyright Julian Birkinshaw 2014
Discussion
If we know what “good management” looks like, why do
we struggle to do it consistently? And what techniques
could we put in place to help us?
Copyright Julian Birkinshaw 2014
Is being a good manager
an “Unnatural Act”?
Copyright Julian Birkinshaw 2014
So how can you improve the quality of
management in your company?
Learn how to
see the world
through the
eyes of our
employees
Copyright Julian Birkinshaw 2014
Copyright Julian Birkinshaw 2014
Cutting through the hierarchy: How do
you get closer to the front line?
•
•
•
•
•
•
“Management by walking around”
Skip-level meetings
Web-enabled chat / discussion
Front-line work
“Smokers corner”
Reverse mentoring
Copyright Julian Birkinshaw 2014
Turn your employees into promoters
Net Promoter Score: How likely is it that you
would recommend this company to a friend or
colleague?
Extremely
likely
Not at all
likely
1
2
3
4
Detractor
5
6
7
8
9
Neutral
10
Promoter
Copyright Julian Birkinshaw 2014
The “Net Management Promoter Score”
How likely is it that you would recommend your line
manager to a colleague as someone they should work
for in the future? (1=not at all likely, 10=extremely
likely)
Detractor
Neutral
Promoter
Copyright Julian Birkinshaw 2014
A top quality boss is the best single
predictor of employee engagement
Copyright Julian Birkinshaw 2014
A new management style
Hypothesis: A greater emphasis on ‘coaching’ will
increase the effectiveness of my team
Before
After
Traditional style
of supervision
of team
Supervisor spends 5 hours
more per week providing
feedback and coaching team
Intervention: Supervisor has 5 hours
per week freed up (fewer meetings)
Team are asked to look for new ways of
increasing cross-selling
Result: Team members
more engaged, significant
increase in cross-selling
from lower performers
Copyright Julian Birkinshaw 2014