The term ‘Manager’ is often used to describe a continuum of jobs that range from first-level supervision to all the way to top management decision-makers. ‘An organization’s managers are its direct links to its employees- they have a strong influential role and impact on performance and morale. The business environment is changing at an ever-quickening pace requiring ongoing education. Managerial work has become increasingly fast-paced, less structured, and more reliant on strong interpersonal and leadership skills than ever before.’1. The increased complexities of managerial jobs require a selection process that can accurately measure and account for a wide variety of interrelated factors. So it is not necessary to follow ‘conventional wisdom’ when dealing with recruitment and selection of the managerial staff. The process must do more than simply measure the critical factors. It must provide the interpretation of how the individual’s background and skill match a specific role.
While specific tasks and responsibilities of each managerial job differ between organizations, still all managerial level assignments share some common elements in terms of responsibilities associated with them like:
- Accountability for the performance of subordinates,
- Accountability for support of strategic business initiatives,
- Responsibilities for effective decision making,
- Accountability of increased levels of technical or job-specific knowledge, and
- Accountability of continual personal development and improvement and initiative to develop a career path with the company.
That means the managerial selection process starts with the development of a clear description of the respective managerial job.
Job development and description
This is a very important part of the managerial selection process. A managerial job description is a definition of a manager’s duties and responsibilities within the organization. These descriptions of managerial jobs generally remain confined to the requirements of the following areas of management:
Leadership and Management
Leadership qualities include abilities to foster teamwork. A leader induces team confidence to face hitherto unknown scenarios and empowers the teams for a common goal. In other words, developing leadership in others is the basic attribute of a leader.
Dealing with people
This involves the communicating skills of a manager. Not only should a manager possess the attributes of a good orator, but his written communication should also have a persuasive effect. Further, interpersonal skills empower a manager to negotiate with and influence others in order to help achieve key business objectives.
Cognitive skills
The ability to acquire knowledge through thought, experiences and resulting perception or initiatives equips the manager with skills to solve problems and make effective decisions. Such skills are generally acquired with experiences, but some leaders have these as inborn attributes.
Self-management
The manager has to remain adaptable, flexible, and opportunistic to attain self-management attributes in search of continual improvements. This, in fact, is a way to encourage subordinates to do the impossible.
Job-specific technical competencies
This involves the educational and technical knowledge required to perform the technical responsibilities associated with the managerial job.
After the development of exactly needed descriptions and the requirements of a particular job, the company has to follow the commonly available procedures in the process of managerial selections.
Common procedures ineffective managerial selections
Job description, as stated above, is the major step in an effective managerial selection process. Thereafter, the basic elements of procedures followed commonly by companies at large in their endeavor to attain efficient and competent managers are as under:
a) Recruitment and determining capable candidates:
The basic approach is the recruitment of candidates with managerial capabilities and skills matching with attributes stated in the job description. This begins with the analysis of the organization’s strategic plans and allied documents to determine behaviors required in the managerial candidates in order to achieve the organization’s goals. The most effective selection system can be achieved by using the following established practices:
- Behavior-based interviews
- Training and experience evaluations
- Ability tests
- Biographical data
b) Orientation and training:
Orientation and training are twin processes. Orientation involves giving candidates selected in the recruitment process an adequate background about the organization. Orientation makes it easy for a candidate to mold his/ her actions as per the organization’s basic objectives.
Training after recruitment of candidates is important as it polishes the already attained academic and other managerial attributes in aspiring managers. Professional managerial qualifications can be effective when managers acquire the much-needed ‘assertiveness skill.’ Training establishes the capabilities of improved overall performances in a manager. In general, training helps in:
- Enhancing communicating skills,
- Developing leadership abilities,
- Empowering managers to tap other people’s resources to get the work accomplished, and
- Development of abilities to greatly influence others.
- Supervision:
Supervision of managerial candidates is no different in concept or execution as supervision of any other new entrant. However, in the case of supervision of managerial candidates, the following aspects need extra care:
- A responsible managerial high up has to play the role of a supervisor.
- Supervisors need to be flexible in approach as managerial candidates deal with situations that do not occur on a regular basis.
- Appropriate job assignment
The appointment of managers at the appropriate job level of management is the final and critical stage of the selection process. Assignment of appropriate job to a manager is done when top management is assured that incumbent would perform as per respective job requirements and expectations. The objective here is to match skills and attained capabilities to the requirements of the assigned managerial position.
The recommended procedure for hiring managers
Common procedures of hiring managers have been evolved over a period of trials and experiments. My organization, like every other organization, has very specific circumstances and requirements for a managerial assignment. Therefore, before following the common procedures of hiring a manager, the requirements would be checked as per under noted selection checklist:
- Determine needs for new or replacement managerial position
- Think creatively about how to accomplish the work without adding the staff
- Hold a recruitment planning meeting with the recruiter, the hiring manager, HR leader, and potentially a coworker.
- Develop and prioritize the key requirements needed from the position and the special qualifications, traits, characteristics, and experience required in a candidate.
Upon determination of priorities of key requirements, a job description as described above would be framed; and only thereafter the normal and common procedure of managerial appointments would be followed.
References
Lin Grensing- Pophal, ‘Management Development: A Strategic Initiative,’ 2002, Web.