What great managers do differently –
consequences for HR
Presentation based on the article „What
great managers do differently“ of Susan M.
Heathfield
By Christiane Baumann, 11.11.2010
Course: New Trends in HR
Lecturer: Terry George
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What you (hopefully) will have learned in
the end:
• Common wisdom is not always true
• The core tasks of a normal manager
• The core tasks of a great manager
• What does this mean for HR?
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Tasks of a normal manager:
1. Select a person based on experience, intelligence and
education
2. Set expectations by defining the right steps
3. Motivate the person by helping him identify and overcome his
weaknesses
4. Develop the person by helping him learn and get promoted
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Why common wisdom is wrong
A little story:
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What does this tell us?!
• People don‘t change that much.
• Don‘t waste time trying to put in what was left out.
• Try to draw out what was left in.
• That is hard enough!
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Conclusions of Buckingham & Coffman
•Based on interviews with over 80.000
successful managers
•Gallup Organization
 Great managers break every rule
characterized as conventional wisdom when
dealing with the selection, motivation and
development of staff
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Let‘s have a look to the back & front:
1. When selecting someone…
they select for talent
2. When setting expectations…
they define the right outcomes
3. When motivating someone…
they focus on strengths
4. When developing someone…
they help him find the right fit
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1. Select people based on talent
… Not because of
experience,
education or
intelligence
Talent is: a recurring pattern of thought, feeling or
behavior that can be productively applied
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2. When setting expectations for
employees, establish the right outcomes
• Micromanaging is a mistake!
• Great managers assist each
individual to establish goals that
are congruent with the needs of the organization
• they let each employee find the right path to reach the
outcomes
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3. When motivating an individual, focus
on strength
• everybody has unique strength
• If you help people becoming more of
who they already are it will lead to
success
• Find out what motivates each staff member and try to
provide more of it in his work environment
• manage around the weakness
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4. Find the right job fit for each person
• Help each person find roles
where his unique combination of
strengths match the distingt
demands of the role
• guide the employee toward roles where he has the
greatest chance of success
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Implications for HR
• Remember:
• People don‘t change that much!
• Try to draw out what was left in!
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1. Selecting for talent
• Realistic testing
• Behavioral interviewing
• Look for patterns of talent in application
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2. Defining the right outcomes
• Coach the managers in more partizipative styles of working
• Establish organization-wide goals
• Think of reward system
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3. Focusing on strength
• Promote a work environment in which people feel
motivated to contribute
• Make certain that individual strenghts are nurtured
• Design reward, recognition, compensation & performance
development systems
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4. Finding the right fit
• Familiarize yourself with every position in the organization
& with the talents and capabilities of each person
• Keep excellent documentation
• Development promotion & hiring process which supports
placing people in positions that „fit“
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Conclusion
• Implications of this findings are enormous!!
Assess each individual’s talents and skills. Then provide training,
coaching and development opportunities that will help the
person increase these skills. Compensate for or manage around
weaknesses.
• Is this realistic and possible?
• Does this meet your personal opinion?
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What you (hopefully) will have learned in
the end:
• Common wisdom is not always true (?!)
• The core tasks of a normal manager
• The core tasks of a great manager
• What does this mean for HR?
 Did you??
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Thanks for your attention!