Selecting Managers Who Avoid Lawsuits

Posted on January 28, 2022 in Consulting

A business positions itself best to avoid employee-related claims by hiring strong managers. Good supervisors are the key to helping employers avoid the courthouse. And, when the suits happen, as they do, the winning cases have a common feature: a good manager at the center of the case prepared to defend the company.
Based on all my experiences meeting the managers accused of being “evil” discriminators, I formed my thoughts on who employers should entrust with management authority. Here are my tips for selecting managers who help you avoid employment problems.

1. A PLEASANT, RESPECTFUL TEMPERMENT

Some people naturally possess a temperament suited for supervisory responsibility. Good managers reserve judgment until they know the facts. They tend to be patient as well as good listeners. They let employees talk, share their views, and even rant a bit. Only after listening carefully, they calmly – never yelling — explain a course of action with reasonable and achievable requests. Finally, they show respect to all and never speak ill of others in public settings.
This all sounds so simple, right? But not many people inherently possess these qualities. So what are we mere mortals supposed to do? The answer centers on training and coaching. A good employer can work with the rest of us – me included – to help normal people who get frustrated, irritated, and jump to quick conclusions to find ways to slow down, listen better, and think through best practices and smart decisions.
But the real tip here is not to promote into management a person who you believe fundamentally lacks the proper temperament or the ability to be coached to develop this critical trait.

2. GOOD JUDGMENT CALLS

Quality managers make decisions and stand by them. They give the team credit for wins, and they share responsibility when their leadership resulted in a less than desirable result. The distinction between good and weak managers is not necessarily making mistakes but errors in judgment. Mistakes occur because of an oversight or misunderstanding of facts. Usually, mistakes can be fixed.
In contrast, errors in judgment spur the reaction: “What were you thinking?” or “What possibly caused you to make that decision?” (Think 15-16 year old boys who do dumb stuff seemly instinctively.) Mistakes can be explained by missing some pieces to the decision. Poor judgment rarely can be explained.
The Tip: People possessing poor judgment traits nearly never work well in a supervisory role.

3. SKILLS, NOT SENIORITY

Some workplaces assume seniority as a right to promotion. Yet, on its own, seniority does not justify promotion to management. An employee may be great in a job, but the character traits for managing others rarely flow from doing good work for a long time.
My tip is simple: Tenure should not in itself be the reason for promotion to management. To avoid the notice that tenure justifies promotion, I suggest employers clearly articulate – in writing – that while seniority may be considered in the promotion to supervisory positions it will never be a decisive factor and that skills, more than tenure, will be key factors.