Keep Your Good Workers by Building Good Leaders

A recent report from the American Hospital Association's Commission on the Workforce asked healthcare workers key questions about the performance of their front line managers. The study concluded that an employee's decision to stay with or leave an organization is primarily based on his or her relationship with an immediate supervisor. No matter what industry or setting or company size, effective leaders:

• Possess personal integrity.
• Can easily adapt to change.
• Work to build the talent of others.
• Communicate well with their people.
• Have the ability to build and lead a team.
• Can analyze problems and create solutions.
• Encourage a collaborative work environment.

Five Ways to Develop More Effective Front Line Managers:

Encourage and give managers time to attend leadership courses. Learning and growing is part of their job.

Develop an approach to hire and assess managers based on the above key competencies, not on old job descriptions.

Reward effective leadership on a regular basis whether it is through a "Manager of the Month" award or free movie tickets.

Get creative with training. Start peer coaching groups - managers with similar levels of authority meet once a month to discuss challenges in managing people, dealing with organizational politics, or other thorny issues.

Do short reviews every three to six months to catch performance problems before they blossom into big leadership headaches. When problems are identified, action plans should be put into place to rectify the issue before the next appraisal.

Power Action Step:
Pick one of your frontline managers. How well does he lead? What are his strengths? What areas need improvement? Get together and create a development plan.

Marcia Zidle, the 'people smarts' coach, works with business leaders to quickly solve their people management headaches so they can concentrate on their #1 job ­ to grow and increase profits. She offers free help through Leadership Briefing, a weekly e-newsletter with practical tips on leadership style, employee motivation, recruitment and retention and relationship management. Subscribe by going to http://leadershiphooks.com/ and get the bonus report "61 Leadership Time Savers and Life Savers". Marcia is the author of the What Really Works Handbooks ­ resources for managers on the front line and the Power-by-the-Hour programs ­ fast, convenient, real life, affordable courses for leadership and staff development. She is available for media interviews, conference presentations and panel discussions on the hottest issues affecting the workplace today. Contact Marcia at 800-971-7619.

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