Are your employees $$ signs? Management expert tells local managers to embrace change

Into that heady mix, throw in the “human touch,” Pearce said, and you can see why managers walk a daily tightrope and why they need a lifeline to stay above the fray.

That’s lifeline whether they realise it or not, he said, comes in the form of change.

In an interview during a four-day workshop at Crowne Plaza, organised by Camillon Consulting, a local outfit run by Camille Ramdial, Pearce, an expert in leadership and development based in the US, took the view that those who embrace change do the best in the world of management.

The workshop, “Bootcamp for Leaders 2,” had a nice ring to it but for those who attended it came a lot. For instance, as a manager, if when you look at your employees, you only see dollar signs, you might have a problem, Pearce added.

And neither are employees a commodity nor a disposable asset, said Pearce, surrounded by management paraphernalia.

The workshop theme, according to the brochure, was: “Riding the wave of change.” Its pitch was aimed at being the best leader you can be; winning with customers and understanding and embracing change.

Putting it down to brass tacks, Pearce said it was all about getting managers to increase their “management success ratio” and how to become more effective.

To be successful these days, companies, Pearce said, must stay competitive, motivate their workforce – and take on a human face. “It’s a tall order,” he says, adding though that those who neglect the latter do so at their own peril.

On employers who only see the dollar signs, Pearce does not buy their argument that employees are just pieces on a chess table.

One of his favourite management tools is the book, Who Moved My Cheese, which he uses as a template to get managers to accept change. The author, he says, has a way of talking about change that is inclusive and non-threatening.

Among the drawings and management notes written on sheets of paper and displayed at the front of the room is one that is drawn much larger than the others. It says, “The Leadership Challenge” - Model the way; Inspire a shared vision, Challenge the process and Inspire others to act.

Asked about this, Pearce, said it’s what he uses to set the tone for manager-employee relationships.

Peace, who has given courses in Yemen, Dubhai, Nigeria and Indonesia, says too often leaders can’t see beyond the bottom line. “It’s a case of I win, you lose,” he said, noting that in some cases it was hard to convince managers to think beyond that.

“You must want to get to the point of win, learn,” he said. “If you have a setback, you must learn from it,” Pearce said, whose last job was a manager at Arco. There, he had an US$8 million budget, 25 staff members and reported to a CEO. Pearce, who describes TT as a sophisticated business centre, said we had a lot in common with other bigger countries, noting that managers across the globe faced similar problems.

Managers, he argued, must find ways to make decisions faster, make products cheaper, and all the while stay competitive. The one question, he says, that crops up in his seminars like this one is how to motivate staff and keeping the profit line in the black. Pearce says in most cases managers hit a brick wall when they try to motivate others in their organisation.

He said this was flawed management from the beginning. He said most of this stems from managers who are unable to give a clear direction.

The result? Staff who feel ‘beat down,’ taken for granted, and who feel they have no stake in the company.

His group of managers at this boot camp was a diverse group. From accountants and energy executives to those in State enterprises, Pearce said he had his hands full.

The gist of their concerns, he said, was that of employee-manager relationship and how to find the right formula for motivating people. One local manager in the construction sector, who had 400 people under him, wanted to reduce the attrition among his staff; another wanted to be more “human” during the daily grind.

Managers, he said, try to discover what is unique about each person – and try to capitalise on it. Motivation, he said, starts with that basic premise.

Pearce, who describes himself as a management coach, argues that coaching is the most effective way for managers to bring improvements. Coaches, he says, must bring to the classroom war stories and scar tissue. The former must come from getting “beat up and coming back to fight” and the latter from battles with other CEOs.