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Contact Information
JFP Executive Search
Aleksanterinkatu 15 A 7th flr
FI-00100 Helsinki
Finland
Tel: +358 10 617 7900
Fax: +358 10 617 7999
eMail: jfp@jfp.fi
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Look to the future, act in the present
A GOOD MANAGER
...masters strategic management. He/she communicates the significance of the strategy in the context of every-day work to the organisation. He/she makes choices, prioritises and introduces his/her ideas inspiringly and credibly.
...implements the strategy. He/she sets goals, monitors their achievement consistently and gives feedback firmly. He/she inspires and motivates his subordinates by his/her own example.
...manages networks. He/she understands the customers' business and needs. He/she develops and maintains cooperation with a network of partners.
During a period of economic downturn, a good manager spots future opportunities, and even tough decisions are necessary, makes them compassionately, says Mr Kari Peuhkuri, Senior Consultant with JFP.
In a booming economy, the company thrives and management is easy. The company goes from strength to strength, spirits are high and the profit line looks great.
Once the economic cycle heads for a downturn, the character of management changes. Instead of continuous growth and increasing market shares, the company resorts to reorganisations and restructuring measures.
What kind of a manager can cope in these circumstances?
– The manager must be capable of putting him/herself in the position of others. A manager can earn the trust of his/her organisation and subordinates by predictable, credible and empathic actions. In practice, this means that tough decisions, such as dismissals, must be based on commercial facts.
Mr Peuhkuri stresses that a business manager must be able to see beyond economic trends into the future. While tough decisions may be necessary, the manager must make sure that the company is ready to go when an upswing is on the horizon.
INTENSIFYING COMPETITION OVER TALENT
In anticipating the future, Mr Peuhkuri regards identifying talent in one's own organisation, or a new generation of managers, as a central factor. Retirements of the large age classes will forcefully shape the structure of the labour market, and competition over talented people will be fiercer than ever.
– We must find talented people and make sure their skills are honed. The larger the company, the more important it is to methodically and systematically map and develop talent. This will also have a marked impact on the attractiveness of the company as an employer.
And what does the demand for managers look like over the short term? Is the role of expertise in the relevant sector emphasised at the cost of general management skills during a downturn?
– It is typical of business owners that in hard times, they seem to have blinkers on their eyes. It is easy to fall for thinking that only a person having spent their whole career in your own sector can fully understand it, Peuhkuri notes.
He stresses that the basic nature of management is generic. The manager does not necessarily need to understand every last technical detail in his or her sector. Someone coming from the outside may bring in new perspectives and experience of doing things differently. |
