新上司接管老员工须知

    你刚刚走上经理人的职位，自然值得庆祝。但是从酒杯里的香槟酒气泡散去的那一刻起，你就必须开始思考一个问题：目前的职位将会带来哪些挑战？

    虽然你很可能会按捺不住想花时间仔细考虑新的业务战略，但千万别忽视你即将面临的第一个挑战，同时也可能是最关键的一个挑战：赢得下属的信任和配合。

    瑞安•拉什当初上任伊始就遭遇了这样的考验。当时，他刚刚就任位于美国圣克鲁兹市的欧尼尔服装公司（O'Neill Clothing）副总裁，负责销售和设计业务。他接手管理的老员工有21人。这个部门之前表现不力，公司期待拉什能够扭转局面。然而就在他准备放手大干一场的时候却遇到了巨大阻力，一位明星员工甚至越级，直接去找首席执行官反映意见分歧和不满。

    对新任经理人来说，拉什遇到的情况并不鲜见。那么面对这种几乎不可避免的问题，应该如何应对？

    《管理者新解》（Manager Redefined）一书的作者、咨询师汤姆•达文波特称，要清楚员工对公司抱有何种期待。“每位员工为公司付出了什么，他们又希望从公司获得什么回报，我们对此会有一种默契。”达文波特认为，只要员工认为公司尽责守信，他们就会一如既往地努力工作。

    对于刚刚走马上任的人来说，必须要让手下员工确信，他们与公司之间不成文的契约依然有效。经理人在这种契约关系中是公司方的代表，如果经理人出现变动，员工自然会感觉他们与公司间的默契关系面临风险。因此，达文波特建议经理人征询员工如下问题，包括“你来公司工作的目的是什么？为什么留在这里？你希望未来职业生涯想什么方向发展？”这些问题有助于厘清员工对这种契约关系的具体想法，同时给你一个机会，告诉员工你会继续尊重双方之间的约定。

    查林格、格雷及克里斯马斯公司（Challenger, Gray & Christmas）是一家管理者新职介绍服务公司。该公司首席执行官约翰•查林格称，还应该努力跟团队中的关键人物建立良好关系，不仅包括处于公司组织结构上层的员工，还包括团队中的非正式领袖。“弄清楚谁向谁汇报很重要，但组织的非正式结构同样也很重要。要找出这个团队里能左右舆论导向的非正式领袖，并把他们争取到自己这边。”查林格表示，建立关系有助于发掘团队真正的优势所在，同时避免前任管理者犯下的错误。

    还可以运用一个更偏向技术层面的技巧。如果无法自主决定团队的具体人选，应该重点进行职位设计，向每个职位分配相应的任务。哈佛商学院（Harvard Business School）教授弗朗西斯•弗雷称：“如果不能自主选择人手，职位设计在绝大多数情况下都能起到非常关键的作用。领导者当然都希望能挑选能力最强、悟性最高的员工辅佐自己，但这种想法不切实际。经理人最终往往需要为自己希望拥有的、而不是手头现有的员工设计职位。”弗雷表示，如果不能掌握员工的选择权，就必须搭建适当的职位结构，使之与现有员工的能力相匹配。

    对拉什来说，他开始尽可能多地了解公司的情况，并与手下的团队培养默契感。他召集了全体下属，征求他们对如下问题的看法：目前我们的业务有哪些好的做法？哪些做法有问题？你们希望我做些什么？你们担心我会采取的行动又是什么？假设你们和我换个位置，你们会怎么做？这种讨论让拉什对业务有了更深的理解，并与手下团队建立了情感纽带。

    拉什的努力的确带来了一些变革。向首席执行官告状的那位员工最终选择了离职。两个月后，部门业务走上了稳定的发展轨道，接下来的四年里，部门运转相当顺利。去年夏天，拉什从欧尼尔公司离职并开创了自己的服装企业。这一次，他可以完全从头组建自己的新团队了。

    译者：李玫晓/汪皓

    So you've just become a manager. As the fizz settles in that celebratory glass of champagne, the newly hired (or promoted) will need to start thinking about the challenges of their recently won positions.

    And while you might have an urge to muse about your grand business strategy, you best not disregard what is likely your most critical first challenge: earning the confidence and cooperation of the staff you just inherited.

    Ryan Rush ran headlong into this trial as he started his role as a vice president of merchandising and design at Santa Cruz-based O'Neill Clothing. Rush inherited 21 employees in an underperforming men's division and was asked to turn it around. As he set out to accomplish this goal, Rush faced resistance, including open dissension from a star employee who went straight to the CEO to voice his disagreements.

    For new managers, Rush's situation is no strange happening; it should almost be expected. So what do you do?

    Start by finding out what each employee expects from the company, says Tom Davenport, who is a consultant and author of Manager Redefined. "There is an unwritten understanding of what each employee puts into the company and what they expect to get in return." As long as an employee feels their company is living up to its side of the deal, says Davenport, they will likely continue to invest in their work.

    As a new manager, you must assure your staffers that those deals are still intact. The manager is the keeper of the company's side of the bargain and, when a manager is replaced, it is only natural for employees to feel their deals are at risk. Davenport suggests asking employees questions like "Why did you join the company, why do you stay, and where do you want your career to go from here?" These questions will help you understand what your employees think their deals are, and it will give you a chance to show that you are committed to upholding them.

    You should also try to establish relationships with the team's critical leaders, says John Challenger, CEO of Challenger, Gray & Christmas, an executive outplacement services firm, referring not just to the staffers at the top of the org chart, but the covert leaders too. "It's important to learn not just who reports to whom, but the underlying structure of the organization as well. Look for the ringleaders, those who drive the conversation, and win them over." These relationships, says Challenger, will help you find out what your team does really well and help you avoid what plagued the team under the previous manager.

    On a more technical note, when you are not able to decide who exactly is part of your team, you should concentrate on job design, meaning the way you allocate tasks to each position. "In the vast majority of cases where you don't get to pick your people, job design is critical," says Harvard Business School Professor Frances Frei. "One of the consistent fantasies of leadership is that you pick your best and brightest and go to war. Managers often end up designing roles for people they wish they had, as opposed to those they really do have." When you don't have control of employee selection, Frei says, you must structure jobs to match the capabilities of your employees.

    In Rush's case, he set out to learn as much as possible about the company and to build rapport with his new team. He sat down with all 21 of his staffers and asked the following questions: What's right with our business? What's wrong with our business? What do you hope I might do? What are you afraid I might do? What would you do if you were me? The discussions helped him understand the business and form a bond with his team.

    Rush did make some changes, and the employee who complained to the CEO ended up leaving, but things settled into place after about two months and worked smoothly for another four years. Last summer, Rush left O'Neill to start his own clothing company. This time, he'll be able to build his team from scratch.