Should kindness be on the Person Specification ?
Nice manager or a kind manager ? Which would you think is the bigger problem for HR? Well nice managers try very hard to creat a pleasant atmosphere in their team they tend to avoid difficult conversations, shy away from directly challenging individuals and keep feedback superficial and uncontentious. They can’t understand why any one wouldn’t like them. Imagine their surprise and disappoint when they are the subject of a grievance from one of their team.
The kind manager is supportive and empathetic, if some one is struggling they will help, whether that is lightening their work load or being flexible about working hours due to short term domestic crisis. However they are no push over and they are not naive about human nature. They see the job as setting standards, promoting best practice and challenging bad practice as such they don’t hesitate to challenge individuals or have uncomfortable conversations. They are not surprised that on occasions this results in a grievance where they are required to justify their feedback and the way they delivered it.
In my experience HR managers have a lot of time for managers who are willing to challenge individuals over performance or behaviour they too are interested in promoting best practice and challenging poor performance or inappropriate behaviour.
The problem comes when nice managers who have ignored or simply put up with work of an unacceptable standard, poor time keeping or frequent absences decide enough is enough. Maybe the rest of the team are feed up with the individual and have put pressure on the manager to do something. The nice manager unused to tackling individuals makes a clumsy challenge. Which as far as the individual is concerned has come out of the blue. They submit a grievance.
Some of this can be resolved with experience and training plus support and guidance from HR but it would be so much better if Kindness was recognised in the management PS as an essential requirement.
Blair Mcpherson former Director author and blogger www.blairmcpherson.co.uk
