Leading People. Peter Mills
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team members
Without these authorities, a manager will not be seen as the true leader and will have difficulty carrying out their accountability for achieving the output. These authorities are called VAR3I authorities and they must be exercised within the boundaries of the organization’s policies, procedures and values.
So why do managers need VAR3I authorities? If a manager is held to account for the output of their direct reports, then it makes sense that the manager must be able to decide on the capability fit of a person to their team. If a person is to be transferred to their team, the manager must be able to veto the appointment to the team if he/ she feels that it will affect team performance.
In the selection process for team members, the manager does not act alone. In practice, he/she selects the best fit and then recommends the appointment to their own manager for authorization, that is the manager-once-removed (MoR) from the employee. The MoR then has a ”reviewing role” and can also veto appointment with good reason. This ensures that the long-term view of the organization is considered and that both the manager and MoR are comfortable with the selection.
If the manager is accountable for the output of the team, then he/she must be able to assign tasks to team members. In fact, the manager is the only person who can assign tasks to members of their team. If others are able to assign tasks, the manager will be unable to manage workloads effectively or ensure critical issues are addressed in balancing the work to be done. This is likely to impact others in the team. This does not mean that the manager’s team members do not work with others; they do and must for the organization to be successful. But it does mean all working relationships must be clear. This is covered in “Principle 3: Understand and Respect the Role of Others”.
Following this, it makes sense that, as the manager is the only person who can assign a task, he/she is the only person who can effectively judge or assess the performance of that task (review) and make fair judgments to recognize and reward team members based on those judgments (within the boundaries of the salary system). This is a most important authority, for it goes directly to the individual’s sense of worth and is therefore an important building block in the relationship with the manager and a key to building trust.
If a manager’s decisions are overturned, he/she may have difficulty in linking the changed decision to the work outcomes. It could lead to inappropriate behavior and employees losing confidence in the organization’s support of managerial authority. Over time this will erode feelings of mutual trust in the organization.
Consistency of monetary reward is achieved through good salary systems design and implementation.
The initiate removal authority is exercised when a team member is unable to deliver the required output for the role. The manager will have worked with the team member to identify the issues and, where appropriate, to develop and implement a performance improvement plan. If the team member’s performance does not improve and the manager assesses the issues relate to an incorrect fit to the role (not valuing the work or level of work ability mismatch, for example), then the manager is accountable to use this authority to remove the team member from the current role. Obviously the manager will have had appropriate conversations and guidance from their own manager in this process. In this context, it should not be a surprise to the manager’s manager that there has been a performance issue. If the working relationship between the manager and his/her manager is effective, they would have discussed the issue earlier and together agreed upon actions to improve the team member’s performance.
This authority is only to ”initiate removal” from the team, as the manager does not have the authority to remove the person from the organization (dismissing the person). This authority rests with the person’s manager-once-removed (MoR), as it may be that the manager is underutilizing that team member or not managing effectively.
It may also be that the person’s performance is related to long-standing and unresolved conflict. If placed in another role suited to their skills, that person may thrive. It is also about ensuring that such serious decisions about dismissal have appropriate controls and checks, and that fair treatment processes are followed.
What is important is that the MoR reviews the manager’s decision to initiate removal from the role and checks to ensure that the appropriate process is followed. If so, the MoR must support the manager’s authority and decide the removal from the role.
It is then the MoRs accountability to decide whether the person is retained within the organization, in a more suitable role, and of course ensuring the receiving manager has veto appointment authority, or whether the person must leave the organization.
The interrelationship between manager accountabilities and VAR3I authorities and the manager-once-removed is shown in the table adapted from Dr. Elliott Jaques shown on the following page.
Personally Earned Authority
To perform successfully, managers must also develop a significant level of personally earned authority. While authority to set direction is vested in the work and the authorities of a role, managers must continually earn personal authority to achieve the willing, enthusiastic collaboration of others to drive in a direction. This work is central to building and maintaining the manager-employee relationship.
The minimum requirement for a manager to be able to develop personally earned authority is to demonstrate capability in the role. Personally earned authority is earned, or grown, by demonstrating competence in the role and by building trust through the consistent application of sound managerial practices. Beyond this, it is the trust and respect that is engendered through the hundreds of actions that the manager takes every day in carrying out their work. It is developed through maintaining a clear and consistent position on what is right, even when things get tough, doing what you say you will do, and demonstrating your consistent application of the company’s policies and practices.
To demonstrate competence in a role, managers must: