重塑中层管理岗位，摆脱夹缝生存窘境

    要招到这样的“后台管理者”，公司必须转变用人标准。公司不能再简单地把业绩最佳的员工任命为中层管理，而是在招聘时挑选善于处理矛盾冲突的人选。“培养具有同情心和换位思考能力的经理人不能寄希望于学校，”达文波特说。

    举例说，在美国西南航空公司 (Southwest Airlines)，管理者需训练行李处和登机口的员工，帮助他们掌握飞机晚点或其他应急事件发生时的处理方法。因此，后台管理者的职责是为员工提供指导，帮助他们自主解决问题，而不是亲手示范。得益于此，西南航空的工作运转十分有效，公司业绩也节节攀升。

    思科系统公司（Cisco）是达文波特作为韬睿惠悦公司咨询顾问在2010年服务的客户之一。达文波特介绍说，思科系统公司在中层管理工作方面进行了大刀阔斧的改革。改革之前，思科的中层管理用于员工管理的时间占全部工作时间的25%，而用于编写代码及处理软件相关工作的时间占75%。2010年的培训结束后，中层经理们意识到，之前用于实施员工管理的时间远远不够。于是，思科改变了中层管理的工作性质，设立专门的认证机制，并按照新方案实施管理者培训。

    “要想成功，就不能同时扮演球员和教练这两个角色。实际上，这么干的人绝大多数最后都以失败而告终，”达文波特说。

    改革之后，思科的中层管理人员花在管理上的时间占到了75%，而处理软件工作的时间只占25%。达文波特说，中层管理者将工作重点转移到管理上，思科公司也因此提高了整体生产效率，留住了许多普通员工和经理人。然而，思科公司依然决定进行大规模人员重组，并宣布在当年的夏季裁员6,500人。

    几年前，位于加州圣拉菲尔的设计软件提供商欧特克公司（Autodesk）进行了一项客户调查，欧特克公司的销售培训总监布莱恩•克拉雷称，该项调查主要研究最出色的销售经理所具备的共同技能。这项调查显示，为公司创造最高效益的销售经理每月为每位员工做一对一工作指导的时间是四个小时。如今，欧特克公司重新定义中层管理人员的工作内容，让他们拿出更多的精力用于制定销售策略和推进销售进度。而在此之前，销售经理的绝大部分时间都用在自身的销售工作上，用于帮助其他员工的时间非常有限。

    克拉雷说，现在欧特克公司雇佣的经理级员工必须符合这样的标准：“富有合作精神，善于聆听，对客户需求了如指掌”。此外，许多繁杂的行政工作已经实现自动化管理，中层管理者终于可以从中抽身，用更多的时间来指导其他人的工作。

    “那些为员工扫清工作障碍，并给予慷慨激励的管理者实现了毕马龙效应（人们会不自觉地接受自己喜欢、钦佩、信任的人的影响和暗示，从而获得一种积极向上的动力）。这就是正面心理暗示在工作中的积极影响，”达文波特说。

    译者：富来细特\汪皓

    For offstage leaders to do their jobs well, companies must hire differently. Rather than naming the best producer as a manager, more companies ought to hire managers that understand how to handle conflict. "You can't send a manager to empathy school," Davenport says.

    Southwest Airlines' (LUV) managers, for example, train baggage and gate staff to know exactly what to do if planes are late or other problems arise. Hence, the offstage manager provides the tools for employees to solve problems on their own; the manager doesn't have to be there to lead the way. Provided with these resources, the Southwest employees know how to keep the planes moving, which in turns helps Southwest boost its business.

    Cisco (CSCO) made major changes in how their middle managers operate, says Davenport, who consulted for the company in 2010 as part of Towers Watson. Previously, most Cisco managers spent about 25% of their time managing staff members and 75% of their time writing code or doing software-related work. When Cisco managers went through training in 2010, they realized they didn't have enough time to manage their staff. So Cisco changed the nature of the job and created its own certification program to train managers based on this new approach.

    "You can't be a player coach and win. Most player coaches lose," Davenport says.

    Cisco changed how their middle managers did their jobs, and they now spend 75% on managing others and only 25% of their time keeping their pulse on software. By having managers focus on managing, Cisco boosted its productivity and retained managers and staff longer, Davenport says. However, that didn't prevent the company from announcing plans to lay off 6,500 employees this summer as part of a larger reorganization.

    Several years ago, Autodesk, a San Rafael, Calif.-based producer of design software, performed customer research on what skills its highest producing sales managers possessed, says Brian Cloughley, Autodesk's director of sales training. The research showed that managers who spend four hours per month coaching each sales employee generated the highest revenue for the company. Autodesk redefined the job so managers could focus on presales planning and how to close deals with their customers. In the past, managers spent most of their time selling and only paid a limited amount of attention helping other employees.

    Autodesk now hires managers who are able to "collaborate, listen, and understand client concerns," Cloughley says. Many of the manager position's more burdensome administrative tasks were automated, freeing middle managers to coach others.

    "The managers that clear obstacles and encourage staff create a Pygmalion effect. That's the influence expectations have on performance," Davenport says.