Managers were measured directly in terms of the value their team added to the organisation, and not simply by the numbers that they manage!
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Managers were measured directly in terms of the value their team added to the organisation, and not simply by the numbers that they manage!
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And how do you propose that you measure “team value” without numbers 😛
I’d prefer that managers were measured by team members on how much value they added to the team and organisation.
Jason,
It’s a very subtle difference and I see your point. I suppose I see the manager part of the team and the team as part of the organisation, and so the entire team (and manager) is responsible for adding value. By adding value to the team, this also adds value to the organisation.
The problem is that measuring value is very hard. What is value?
Most organisations attempt to define value and pin down certain numbers that reflect this (e.g. number of sales for a sales manager). So by managing to the numbers, the manager really is trying to be measured by the value reflected by the numbers.
Most managers are neither stupid nor malicious (though there are some that are one or both). They tend to be honest, fairly intelligent people who are really trying to do the best that they can.
Actually, measuring value is really easy. Agreeing on a measurement and what you use it for is much more difficult.
For most businesses and most departments (definitely not all), I’ve found it is how have you helped the bottom line, or perhaps helped others to improve the bottom line (and sometimes it’s not easy in the short term – a totally different topic about *when* you should measure).
I would never say there is a *best* measurement for value, but there are generally *better* ways of measuring. Take your example for instance. The number of sales made by a manager is important but what number is it that you’re interested in? Is it just the physical number of sales made, the amount of $$$ involved, the margin they got, or potentially the repeatable future $$$ they might make?
I agree with you that most managers are very honest, but when you measure people by the headcount they manage, then you may get conflicting goals at the organisation level where the goals of the manager is not aligned with the business, and this is a very bad thing.
In short, I suppose it’s about being careful about what you measure.