Nonprofit HR’s Blog

As the new year approaches, HR leadership needs to step up and change the management practices at their organizations. The old days of command-and-control leadership are fading in favor of what might be better termed a trust-and-track method, in which people are not just told what to do, but why they are doing it. Time to take the reins HR professionals.

Paul Spiegelman has a list of “old school” practices you ought to chuck, and “new school” practices to champion instead:

1. Out: Micro-management, or the need to control every aspect of your company.
   In: Empowerment, the ability to give your people some rope–even rope to make mistakes without blame.
2. Out: Management by walking around the office; it is no longer enough to be visible.
   In: Leadership by watching and listening, engaging in conversation, implementing the ideas presented to you, and distributing the results.
3. Out: Pretending you know everything. You don’t have all the answers, so why try to make people think you do?
   In: Knowing your leadership team members and trusting them. Choose great people who have the right skills and fit the culture.  And get out of the way.
4. Out: No mistakes, or a “no tolerance policy” some still think works.
   In: Learning from mistakes, or being the first to admit an error.
5. Out: The balance sheet drives the business, and informs all other decisions.
   In: People drive the business, boosting customer loyalty, and profit.
6. Out: Job competency is sufficient. Do the job asked, and you’ll survive.
   In: Recruit “A” players who will go the extra mile. They’re out there.
7. Out: Invest in technology to increase productivity.
   In: Invest in people.
8. Out: Demand change; be very specific about what you want and when.
   In: Nurture change; your people can come up with the best ideas and you can give them credit for it.
9. Out: Fried food in the cafeteria.
   In: Wellness in the workplace.
10. Out: Incentives; pay employees more money and they’ll do more.
    In: Rewards; being valued matters more than money.