Early in my career I worked for a large aircraft manufacturer. The company´s practice was to draw good workers from the non-exempt ranks, to become supervisors. With the quick switch of a red badge for a blue badge the worker was now a supervisor in the managerial ranks. (Sound familiar?)

The problem was that because these supervisors were not trained, they were little more than glorified baby-sitters. Frustration and dissatisfaction ran high.

How should a managerial role be structured? The managerial role should include three critical features.

The first step is to recognize the obvious. How an organization structures its managerial organizational layers significantly impacts manager?subordinate relationships. The manager''s position is in one layer and the subordinate''s is in a layer below. What then, sets the necessary distance between each layer? This question cannot be answered without knowing just what it is that a manager does.

First and foremost, every manager must be held accountable, not only for the work of subordinates, but also for adding value to their work. They can´t do that if they are acting as both individual contributors and managers.

Second, every manager must be held accountable for sustaining a team of subordinates capable of doing this work, within the reality of budgets.

Third, every manager must be held accountable for setting direction and getting subordinates to follow willingly, and indeed enthusiastically. In brief, every manager is accountable for work and leadership.

In order to make accountability possible, managers must have enough authority and time to ensure that their sub-ordinates can do the work assigned to them. This authority must include, at least, these four elements:

1. The right to select, or at least, veto any applicant who, in the manager''s opinion, falls below the minimum standards of ability;

2. The authority to make work assignments;

3. The authority to carry out performance appraisals, and within the limits of company policy, to make decisions, not recommendations, about raises and merit rewards; and

4. The authority to initiate removal, at least from the manager''s own team, of anyone who seems incapable of doing the work.

Too often are those in managerial roles are held accountable to some extent without having a clear and effective framework to operate in.

By defining the basic nature of the managerial role within an organization, and giving those in managerial roles the skills and tools essential for determining what skills and competencies are essential for assessing, selecting, and developing employees, the effectiveness and efficiency of those with managerial responsibilities will be enhanced.

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