Do your managers need to attend 'boot camp'?

Which celebrity would you take career advice from?

Oprah

Donald Trump

Hugh Hefner

Madonna

Getting poll results. Please wait...

Show Results

Here's the myth: If a manager is not naturally good at managing people, then he/she cannot learn. The truth: Maybe not all people can learn to be brilliant people managers, but almost everyone can learn to be much, much better at managing people.

In our high-impact supervisory-skills boot camp, we do not aim to transform participants, as if by magic. Rather, we aim at three simple goals for participants: (#1) Take more responsibility for managing people. (#2) Work harder at managing people. (#3) Get better at managing people.

This is our approach, in a nutshell:

First, we make the business case. The supervisory relationship between managers and direct reports is the number one factor in morale, productivity, and retention of high performers.

Second, we help managers tackle their fears about taking a hands-on approach to managing people.

Third, we teach managers the FAST Feedback® coaching skills model. The core competency is giving feedback (that special form of communication that is always responsive). FAST stands for frequent, accurate, specific and timely.

Fourth, we work with participants to practice, practice, practice giving FAST Feedback. Talking about it is easy. Actually practicing the skills is not so easy.

Fifth, then we introduce them to our advanced coaching model: HOT Management™. HOT stands for hands-on-transactional.

Sixth, we work with participants to practice, practice, practice seven HOT skills:

1. Negotiating "custom deals" with employees in exchange for their commitments to do more work and better work.
2. Getting every person on board with the high performance culture of more work for more rewards for everyone.
3. Coaching and supporting every person every day and holding every person accountable every step of the way.
4. Dealing with low performers immediately.
5. Conducting deal-breaker conversations ("improve or be removed") with recalcitrant low performers.
6. Cutting through the red tape, dotting all the 'I's, and crossing all the 'T's.
7. Maintaining the intensity of HOT Teams by conducting regular team-building meetings, refreshing the team with new talent and getting newcomers up to speed right away.

That's it. There are no miracles. But it does have a huge impact.