Management 101 Training: Protect Your Business and Your Employees

Does this sound like any organization you know? Have you seen where some companies just throw their newly appointed managers to the wolves? Or have you known a business that fails to teach or coach their potential managers? Or worse yet, do you know of an organization that allows its managers to say and do anything to its employees?   

Don’t allow these scenarios to take place within your business! 

When employees move up the ranks and start on a managerial career path, for everyone’s sake, it is critically important to provide them with an education, or what we call ‘Management 101.’ 

Consider it a best practice and an imperative: Before any employee is assigned to a position of leadership or supervision, employers will want to take steps in educating and training him or her. 

For one, the ‘old school’ way of managing employees will not work in the 21st century workplace. As most people know, we live in a very litigious society. So, for their own protection, and for the protection of their employees and stakeholders, employers must do the responsible thing. Employers must make sure that supervisory personnel are adequately trained to minimize the company’s liabilities and risks. 

Times are very different, and employers cannot afford to go by the old rules. Many ways of doing and saying things, that may have been acceptable before, can now be considered unlawful or highly offensive. Moreover, many employees know and understand workplace rights, and some of them will not hesitate to take action if they believe those rights have been violated. 

I’ve seen this happen. Sometimes an organization will have an employee, who is coming up through the ranks, and he or she may have been used to saying and doing things in a loose or offensive fashion. These types of individuals must be educated and cautioned about what to say and what not to say when dealing with employees under their supervision. 

The laws are clear on this. Managers are held to a higher standard. When an employee becomes a manager and has authority over others, they are subject to different standards, which can also mean the rules change for them. For instance, the courts say that when an employee is a supervisor or a manager, as a result, this individual is then representing the company. So a company can be held accountable for anything that a manager does or says. 

So, I highly recommend that employers include Management 101 training for up and coming supervisors and managers. 

Before I close, you will want to consider another compelling reason why employers should train their managers. Not everyone is a born leader. What might seem as common sense to one person is not common sense to another. Managers and supervisors must learn how to effectively communicate with people; and how to motivate them, so that they can be persuaded or influenced to do what needs to be done for the company. 

Oftentimes, if you throw someone into a managerial position, and they do not have their antennas up, and they furthermore have no concept of how to effectively lead people, employers are then compromising their operational effectiveness.

When employees move up the ranks and start on a managerial career path, for everyone’s sake, it is critically important to provide them with an education, or what we call ‘Management 101.’