General manager qualifications8/26/2023 If the GM’s standards are low or vague, subordinates aren’t very likely to do much better. If the general manager sets high standards, key managers will usually follow suit. ![]() Of these three, performance standards are the single most important element because, broadly speaking, they determine the quality of effort the organization puts out. Three elements dictate a company’s work environment: (1) the prevailing performance standards that set the pace and quality of people’s efforts (2) the business concepts that define what the company is like and how it operates and (3) the people concepts and values that prevail and define what it’s like to work there. And that’s as true in small- and medium-sized companies as it is in giants like General Motors and General Electric. But whatever the environment a general manager inherits from the past, shaping-or reshaping-it is a critically important job. It helps you define the scope of the job, set priorities, and see important interrelationships among these areas of activity.Įvery company has its own particular work environment, its legacy from the past that dictates to a considerable degree how its managers respond to problems and opportunities. What makes it important is its status as an organizing framework for the vast majority of activities general managers perform. This list shouldn’t be surprising the fundamentals of a general manager’s job should sound familiar after all. And they do that by focusing on the six key tasks that constitute the foundations of every general manager’s job: shaping the work environment, setting strategy, allocating resources, developing managers, building the organization, and overseeing operations. But their priority is avoiding that kind of situation. Sure, they’ll take such sweeping actions if they’re in a situation where that’s necessary or desirable. They know that sustained superior performance can’t be built on one-shot improvements like restructurings, massive cost reductions, or reorganizations. Great general managers do the same thing. Great coaches stress fundamentals-the basic skills and plays that make a team a consistent winner. Together they’re the key to setting priorities and making the right things happen-which is what general management is all about. Individually, none of these tasks is new or startling. Giving periodic tough-minded performance appraisals and organizing around people, not concepts, are two key practices the best GMs follow.įinally, successful GMs supervise operations and implementation: producing sound plans, spotting problems and opportunities early, and responding aggressively to them. They also allocate resources to back up the company’s strategic focus, not to prop up marginal businesses or support low-payout projects.ĭeveloping superior managers and building a strong organization are two more critical general manager jobs. The best GMs spearhead strategy formulation they don’t just preside over it. To shape the organization’s work environment, top GMs use three levers: (1) high performance standards, (2) strong business concepts, and (3) clearly defined people concepts. Whatever their leadership style, they invariably focus their efforts on the six tasks that lay the foundation for effective performance-their own and that of the entire organization.
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