A Sales Director made this statement to me, "I don’t have time to manage my people." It seems alarming as well it should. Sadly, many managers are in this position. They need employees who are self starters, who accept vast amounts of responsibility without complaint and who only report good results because they have eliminated all of the negative issues. However, it this were really the case, the company would soon be asking why they needed that manager at all.

While the Sales Director’s comment is very real, the truth is that none of his employees fit that image. The second truth is that his employees are valuable resources to be challenged and developed to help the company succeed. That is why he is there. Simply put, he cannot afford to allow himself to ignore their potential which means managing their development including helping them thru their every-day problems. Ignoring small problems leads to larger ones that cost the company money. Departments that do not function as a team, destroy a company from the inside out.

If a manager’s responsibility is spread between too many employees, and the company cannot afford more supervisory or middle management positions, select an employee that shows management potential and make them a department lead. They are not paid extra for this; however, they are given managerial experience for a higher position at a later date. Even if the later date does not happen quickly, they have increased value to the company. This experience is put in their employee file as documentation and recognition of their abilities. If they decline it, choose another employee. In a downsizing economic environment, recognition is valuable especially when supervisory and management positions are difficult to find.

The manager is not off the hook by creating the lead positions. Rather, they will have to invest time in helping the leads learn their new responsibilities and adapt to them. But, this is a short-term endeavor that will generate long-term rewards.

It is the short-term investment the Sales Director refused to make that placed him in the situation of having a sales staff who fought with one another over clients and allowed his support staff to dictate what projects they would or would not do.

The good news is that even a chaotic staff can be brought into equilibrium with the right attention and leadership. Using the department lead is only one example of many that using a business coach can unearth.

What kinds of short-term investments would profit your company right now?

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