Articles

Hire Your Next Boss

It’s that time of year again when some people begin to get a bit restless in their current role and think about changing jobs for that next, great opportunity. But when most evaluate that new gig, they tend to get overly influenced by the new job title, the compensation package, and the cool company with the attractive brand. They often don’t spend enough time evaluating what I would argue is the most important factor for future success, happiness, and engagement; your new boss.

Having a manager that can inspire you and understands how to get the best from you can have a big impact on your productivity, level of engagement, and overall happiness at work. As the saying goes, “employees don’t quit their jobs, they quit their boss”. In a 2018 study of more than 25,000 employees from across the world by TinyPulse, employees were asked what factors matter most when deciding to leave. The number one factor mentioned was the relationship and how they felt about their manager. The research went on to show that employees who rate their manager’s performance poorly are 4 times as likely to be job hunting.

Some say in the interviewing process, the focus really needs to be on selling oneself as the right candidate for the job. I would agree but would still advise you to ask early indicator questions about your potential new manager’s style and approach. If the company is interested in hiring you and you are presented with an offer, this is when the leverage in the interview process changes from the company to you. You have convinced them that you are the right fit for the job and they have committed to you by presenting you with an offer of employment to join. Now you have the upper hand on making the decision whether or not to accept and should ask more detailed questions about the type of company you may be joining, the work environment, and the manager relationship.

Here are some practical suggestions to make the right hire of your new boss:

Company culture. Ask your new manager and any peers that you may have had the opportunity to interview with, or that you can get a chance to speak to, about the company’s culture and then compare notes for consistency in what you’ve been told. The culture of the company will have an impact on how they are encouraged to manage and what freedoms they are granted to manage. They can be a wonderful manager but if they are operating in a stifling culture, it will be hard for them to be at their best for you and others. Workplace environment information websites like Glassdoor can also be useful to get some additional, high-level information. In the same survey mentioned above and conducted by TinyPulse, culture was mentioned as the forth most important factor that mattered the most when employees decide to leave.

Talk with potential peers/colleagues. As mentioned above with respect to company culture, if not part of the interviewing process, ask to speak with potential peers/colleagues that you’d be working with and direct specific questions to them about your potential manager’s style and approach. What do they do well and what do they need to work on? How are they under pressure and what means do they use to communicate? What efforts do they take to really get to know you and what you want/need out of your work? Listen for genuine excitement or hesitation in their answers to give you better clues as to whether or not this new boss is the right one for you.

Confirmation conversation with your potential manager. Once you have the offer in hand, it’s a good idea to ask for a follow up conversation with your potential manager to validate some of what you heard and to address any remaining concerns you may have about the new opportunity. Here you should ask direct questions such as how they set expectations, assign goals, and measure/recognize/reward performance. Ask about future development opportunities and if they can share examples of employees they promoted and developed. You should ask more about how, where and when they communicate, the best ways to build trust, and how they delegate which will give you a better sense if they have more of a “micro-managing” or more of a “hands-off” style or somewhere in between. Also this is a good opportunity to ask about their views on workplace flexibility (e.g. working from home, taking time off for personal reasons, expected hours in the office, etc.). If travel will be a component of your role, be sure to get really clear on what the travel expectations are to make sure it doesn’t cause problems for you outside of work. This specific topic actually caused me to turn down a job offer earlier in my career when after I probed, the stated 25% travel in the interview process was validated post offer as really more like 50%.

Speak with past employees they have managed elsewhere. This may seem like overkill but it can be very useful to reach out to those in their network via tools such as LinkedIn, to get a sense for how they managed in their recent past. Although many certainly improve their management and leadership skills over time, there are several traits that continue from one environment to another and this new information can very beneficial. Asking questions of former employees like “how did you find it best to communicate with him/her?” and “what worked between the two of you when you felt you were most productive?” can be of value.

Keeping some of these methods in mind and using some of these tips will hopefully allow you to feel more confident and ultimately gain a better match with your next manager. As you gain valuable experience in your career, along comes even more valuable wisdom. You can apply this experience and wisdom to make sure you enjoy going to work everyday and can be one of the lucky ones to work for a great boss who advocates for you and truly appreciates what you bring to the company.

Michael Messier is founder and principal of Blue Maple Advisors, a firm that specializes in experienced and practical business and HR advisory services. He was formerly the Executive Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer at Excelitas Technologies, a privately held, $850M global leader in photonics. He can be reached via email at Michael@bluemapleadvisors.com.

Want Feedback? Ask for It!

How many times have we all heard people we work with say they wish they could receive more (or even some) feedback about their performance? It’s often that this wish is stated or at least thought of in what would make a current work situation more ideal. Yet many are too afraid, or don’t think of just coming right out and asking for the feedback. Some blame their manager and complain about what seems to be a never-ending wait for what they feel is the manager’s duty. It’s time to take ownership for your own role in your wellbeing and development.

There have been many articles, books and research completed on the topic of performance management and the appraisal process and one common theme has been manager’s disdain for the process and the human tendency to avoid conflict. Positive feedback is generally easier to provide but yet we don’t provide enough of it and negative/developmental feedback is anxiety-ridden, so many struggle to communicate it at all for fear of how to word it and how it may be received.

So how do you acquire the feedback you so rightly deserve to help you continue to perform at a high level and grow in your profession? If it is not offered to you on a frequent enough basis, ask for it on intervals that motivate you to continue to learn and grow in your role and as a professional.

Here are some helpful points to help you get the feedback you need:

1. Ask the right people. Only approach those people that have worked with you close enough and long enough to really be able to provide you with meaningful feedback. Certainly, your direct manager should have a strong sense for how you are doing within the first couple of months of your working together depending on your role and the level of interaction you have with them on a regular basis. Peers and others you may work with may need more time and more detailed opportunities to work with you to get a reasonable sense of how best to provide you specific examples for more useful feedback.

2. Create the right environment. An environment that is safe and comfortable for people to provide you with the feedback you desire will yield better results. Be clear and let them know that you are genuinely interested in improving your performance and yourself and that any specific feedback that they can provide to you is motivating and rewarding to you. Allow them to pick the medium to provide the feedback whether it be a face-to-face meeting, a phone call, an email, a text, whatever method would be easiest for them. When they do provide the feedback, listen intently. If it is a face-to-face meeting or phone call, don’t talk over them or be defensive. Be mindful of your body language and non-verbal cues of how you are receiving their input. Ask questions for clarity or ask them to provide specific examples that can help you learn how you “show up” to others in different situations.

3. Show appreciation. Once they’ve made the effort to provide you with the feedback, be gracious and thank them for the time they’ve spent and let them know how it has helped you. It is very important to be genuine with this point.

4. Use appropriate timing. Think about intervals for requesting the feedback that are beneficial to you but not too frequent to be seen as a nuisance or someone that is overly needy or insecure. People you approach may become less likely to offer you feedback in intervals that they deem too close in time from when they last participated in your request.

5. Commit to Action. If you are serious about your desire to improve, you’ll need to hold yourself accountable for making sure you follow up on the newly received feedback and put an action plan together to address areas for improvement. You now have the data and hopefully the support, you just need to add in an equal amount of desire.

Now that you have some new ideas and points to consider, go make it happen! Having a noticeable level of self-awareness will improve your emotional intelligence and will demonstrate to others that you are open for feedback and able to receive feedback in a way that allows you to create actions to address these areas. It will also likely encourage your manager to provide you with useful feedback more often.