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Transcript

Why Managers Bully Their Team - Why Regular Bosses Resort to Bullying · Enhance.training

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: Why do managers bully their team or specific team members in such great numbers?
• 0:06
  SPEAKER_00: I share three practical actions companies should take to reduce bullying by managers.
• 0:11
  SPEAKER_00: You look at the statistics on bullying in the workplace, and the majority of bullies are managers or people in positions of authority.
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_00: Surveys point to 30-40% of people experiencing bullying by managers or supervisors at some point in their careers.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_00: In some surveys, it goes up to 60% of people that say they have been bullied by managers.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_00: I don't believe that all these managers enjoy hurting others or putting others down or are that insecure to regularly bully.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, a small percentage of managers have damaging personality traits that results in bullying as their standard approach.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_00: We all come across them from time to time in the workplace.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_00: Equally important is that bullying is incredibly damaging to team performance in the medium to long term.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_00: Team members working in a fear-driven environment will do what they are told but rarely more.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_00: Fear reduces communication, collaboration, risk taking, decision making, and solution building by team members, which in turn significantly reduces team performance.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_00: Part of the reason so many managers resort to bullying is the position companies put these managers in.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_00: Another part of the problem is lack of visibility of the manager's approach and performance.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_00: I share three suggestions for companies to implement that would reduce the number of managers bullying in the workplace.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_00: Firstly, a few common reasons why regular bosses resort to bullying.
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_00: I personally have been properly bullied twice in my career, once by a peer who was threatened by my success, and once by a boss.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_00: I would describe myself as a confident, resilient person at the higher performer end of the scale.
• 1:53
  SPEAKER_00: 13 promotions all the way up to board level of large companies speaks for itself.
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_00: My boss wanted me to make a big commitment that was 100% in his personal interests and detrimental to mine.
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_00: At first, he turned on the charm and worked hard to persuade me.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_00: When that didn't work, he moved into underhand bullying tactics to increase the pressure and make my life at work difficult.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_00: Never once did he change his proposal to make it more appealing for me or better for the business.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_00: I have coached plenty of high performers at senior level who successfully stopped bullying behavior from bosses who felt threatened by their team members' talent and achievements.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_00: I've taken over several dejected, run-down teams whose previous leader ruled with fear and bullying tactics because they simply didn't know a better approach and from managers that were personally very insecure.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_00: I have seen many other managers resort to bullying tactics through frustration, a lack of management skills, and the pressure being placed on them.
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_00: In short, there are many reasons why managers bully their team and team members.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_00: Quite a large number of these managers are not horrible people.
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_00: They don't enjoy bullying, nor are they badly insecure.
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_00: Why these managers bully, in my view, is because they feel it gets them the results needed to safeguard their position and job.
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_00: My name is Jess Coles, and if you're new to this podcast, Enhanced.training provides resources and courses for managers to build management expertise and confidence to lead any team to their best performance.
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_00: I've included links to additional resources in the podcast description to help you plan and implement management training programmes in your business to reduce and remove the need for bullying tactics and to give managers much better options with which to lead their teams to great performance.
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_00: Do take a look at the link in the description or type enhance.training into your browser to visit us.
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_00: So let's go on to three actions companies should take to reduce bullying by managers.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_00: 82% of UK managers are promoted into management positions without any formal training per the Chartered Management Institute.
• 4:09
  SPEAKER_00: Globally, this rises to 85% per Gartner.
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_00: Managing teams, even small ones, is a complex and difficult job.
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_00: Yet most companies would not dream of hiring a lawyer or accountant without appropriate qualifications.
• 4:25
  SPEAKER_00: I personally think that the pressure placed on managers to deliver results through their teams, combined with a lack of management training, results in many managers resorting to bullying tactics out of fear of failure, frustration, and a lack of expertise to do the job expected of them.
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_00: The first action companies should take to reduce bullying by managers and increase team performance, and therefore company performance, is to train managers to develop their management expertise.
• 4:55
  SPEAKER_00: Management training would help remove a reason why managers bully staff.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_00: I personally was incredibly lucky to have an outstanding boss who enjoyed coaching and developing team members early in my management career.
• 5:09
  SPEAKER_00: If I had not had all the guidance that she gave me, I would not have been promoted 13 times, I would not have won multiple best team prizes, and I would not have been able to deliver millions of pounds in improved team performance for businesses that employed me subsequently.
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_00: I know personally that teaching management skills is very valuable training that indirectly increases company profitability.
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_00: The top 5% of managers generate eight times more value than the average manager.
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_00: I would be amazed if any of the top 5% of managers had not received great training or coaching at some point during their careers.
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_00: Train managers to give them the expertise they need to lead and manage teams and hit targets demanded of them.
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_00: This would remove a reason why bosses bully.
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_00: The second action that companies should take is to increase the visibility or performance of teams within their business.
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_00: Increasing visibility usually takes some investment, careful thought and a bit of effort.
• 6:13
  SPEAKER_00: Using multiple metrics is better than using one financial one as it provides a more balanced perspective.
• 6:19
  SPEAKER_00: Creating three to five KPIs for each team gives leaders a better picture of how the team is performing and more importantly, how the manager is creating that performance.
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_00: For example, you might have KPIs around team output, staff turnover and a happiness score.
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_00: A really simple exercise is to go and sit with or near a team for a few days.
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_00: Are they working as a team collaboratively?
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_00: Is there a lot of work-related communication going on?
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_00: Do team members support each other?
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_00: Are they energetic, happy and motivated?
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_00: If yes, then the manager is probably doing a great job.
• 6:58
  SPEAKER_00: If no, then the manager may need help and support to increase their expertise or to change their management approach.
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_00: This would reduce reasons why managers bully their employees.
• 7:09
  SPEAKER_00: The third action that companies should take to reduce bullying is to regularly run anonymous staff surveys at a team level with a number of questions focused on the style of leadership of the team.
• 7:21
  SPEAKER_00: Getting feedback directly from staff members is a brilliant way of checking up on how the manager is leading the team.
• 7:28
  SPEAKER_00: When these surveys indicate problems within teams or even bullying, it is vital that the company leadership proactively work at removing the problems, either through training, mentoring or coaching, or by moving the manager into a non-management role, or by removing the manager from the business.
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_00: This also sends a very clear message that bullying is not okay and would reduce the reasons why bosses bully staff.
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_00: The best indication of a good manager or leader is a happy, motivated and performing team.
• 8:01
  SPEAKER_00: So, in summary, there are plenty of bad, lazy and insecure managers leading teams in the workplace who resort to bullying for one reason or another.
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_00: I think that there are more managers that end up using bullying tactics through frustration, being under pressure, and not having the management expertise or good enough management expertise to enable them to lead their team successfully to hit their targets without any hint of bullying.
• 8:26
  SPEAKER_00: Companies and their leadership teams have a responsibility to their staff members to provide a good supportive environment that maximises potential and develops staff capability.
• 8:37
  SPEAKER_00: Even more important, happy, motivated, and engaged teams perform a lot better, multiples better, compared to fearful, unengaged and downtrodden teams.
• 8:49
  SPEAKER_00: It is in each company's best interest for their collective success to make bullying hard to undertake in the workplace and work to actively remove it when it does happen.
• 9:01
  SPEAKER_00: If you have any questions on why managers bully their team, why regular bosses resort to bullying, please email me at support at enhance.
• 9:12
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks very much for listening, and I look forward to speaking to you again soon.