Question

1.

Step

1

An important responsibility of the HR department at many companies is to develop a list of

managerial competencies and then to provide training to help managers improve on those

competencies. The list below includes desired manager competencies from IBM. Make

notes to the right of each competency describing the management behaviors that you think

would be covered.



Collaborative influence



Developing IBM people and communities



Earning trust



Embracing challenge



Enabling growth



Passion for IBM’s future



Strategic risk taking



Thinking horizontally

2.

Step

2

Which competencies do you believe will be easiest and hardest for managers to master?

3.

Step

3

Why do you think IBM arrived at this set of competencies? How do you think it might differ

from management or leadership competencies for other companies?

4.

Step

4

Go online and look up information on IBM’s competencies. (Search for “IBM Leadership

Competencies.”) Are the competencies defined as you expected? Why do you think HR

departments in any company puts so much energy into developing a list of desired

manager competencies?

Answer 1

Step 1 Make notes to the right of each competency describing the management behaviors that you think would be covered.

Collaborative influence - It is about engaging with others in the work environment. This involves working with your team-mates and even the ones not in the team to positively influence them. This does not mean having a formal authority to persuade others but by other indirect ways that an organization stands together and the manager is the reason to bring them all together. Also sometimes it may happen, that someone else in the team has a better idea. To convince other stakeholders is the skill that a manager should possess. This competency can be polished by good communication style, building trust and empathy for one another



Developing IBM people and communities - This would include the dedication of a manager to promote the well-being of IBM and its people. Every action of a manager and leader should align with the vision of his organization. Any step that tarnishes the image of a company or put it in a bad light should be avoided. On the contrary, any action which prospers it should be done. There should be no Principal-Agent problem building in the organisation.

On community perspectives, a lot of things are similar, still, a manager should try and understand other stakeholder's perspectives. These can be employees, clients, authorities, etc. If, at all, he thinks that an individual's voice is suppressed, he should come to the front to help them.

For this competency, apart from initial screenings, a manager should be trained in various soft-skills. He should be knowledgeable enough to understand right and wrong in the company



Earning trust - This point related to the first competency. In order to influence team-mates, a manager or a leader should earn their trust. This skill can be learned through deliberate practice. A manager should lead by example, her actions should be ethical. If a person takes responsibility for her and her team's actions, it shows her integrity. These qualities are liked by all and are instrumental in earning trust. Apart from that, a manager should be in contact with his team-mates, show empathy, and be real in front of them.

This skill can be learned through deliberate efforts. The manager should be well aware of her actions and the consequences it may have.



Embracing challenge - This relates to taking a leap of faith. Many a time, situation may come that a manager has to leave his comfort zone, she may have to work extra hours, go beyond his job description to do something that benefits organization and community. This can be challenging as it is not part of daily work. A manager should be ready to take upon these challenges when they arise. It may result in something unwanted as well and a person should take up that responsibility.

A person can be trained for this skill by giving her tasks in a controlled environment that is beyond his daily work-life. Upon proper examination of actions, the manager can be made aware of it.


Enabling growth - This relates to the second point of developing IBM people and communities, Leader's action should bring in growth in the organization and community. Whether it is regarding providing insights to higher authorities, influencing juniors and making them understand the vision of the company or by bringing more business on the table. A step which grows a firm is always expected from a manager and a leader.



Passion for IBM’s future - The manager should align himself with the objectives of his company. He should not have interests that may harm it. The manager should also feel belonging to the place. Only then can he have passion for the future of organisation. If a manager is working only to get a paycheck at the end of the month, he may not be passionate about future of his company

The HR departments should engage with leaders more often and understand their perspectives. They should be realized about their importance in the organization.

Strategic risk-taking - While working a leader may come face-to-face with different challenges. He should understand that not all risks are worth taking. His actions should be well-thought of before execution as that may affect a lot of lives in the company. Even when a risk needs to be taken, proper planning with help of others should be done.

HR department should train its employees separately about the strategies that needs to be adopted. A leader should be given proper support when he finds himself in this type of situation.



Thinking horizontally- It means to investigate issues wider not deeper. Horizontal thinkers are visionaries who are an asset to a company. It also involves creative or out of the box thinking. which are not obtainable by conventional methods. A leader may need to use his knowledge extensively to solve the issue.

HR managers should give leaders tasks which hone their horizontal thinking skills

Step 2 Which competencies do you believe will be the easiest and hardest for managers to master?

Although most of the skills are very vast and may never be mastered they can be reached a good-enough level.

For the competencies that are given Enabling growth would be easiest as most employees with even the tiniest of steps are growing the organization. Apart from that proper motivation and incentives to them would lead them to feel like a part of the family. Once the manager understands that he belongs to the place and his actions matter, he would surely try that his organization grows.

The hardest skill to master is earning trust. It is a long-term process and may get destroyed with a single action or rumor. It is very fragile to maintain. This skill comes up with the power of influence. If a person can influence others, he may strategically earn their trust as well. But this is not always correct as it is difficult to understand another person's psyche. So although he takes your order because of authority he may not actually trust you. Nevertheless, this competency is achievable with honest efforts.

Step 3 Why do you think IBM arrived at this set of competencies? How do you think it might differ from management or leadership competencies for other companies?

IBM is big organization with offices worldwide and thousands of employees. These competencies are foundational are defines the action of an individual. It only covers aspects related to ethics like earning trust but also in making a leading expert in work by Strategic risk-taking. This skill also tests there ability to provide innovative solutions and their loyalty towards the firm.

Being a large organization with so many managers and leader, it is imperative that everyone should be self-sufficient to make company prosper. It is also difficult to govern the entire organization by a single person/leader. This makes it all more important as everyone then is trusted as a leader with equal responsibilities.

While few skills would be common for all firms few may differ like horizontal thinking. An organisation which does not allow much autonomy to its employees and procedures are standardized this competency may not really be needed. Few organizations also consider employees as mere executioners and hence collaborative influence is also out of the picture. The leader may use his authority to influence his juniors

Step 4 Go online and look up information on IBM’s competencies. (Search for “IBM Leadership Competencies.”) Are the competencies defined as you expected? Why do you think HR departments in any company puts so much energy into developing a list of desired manager competencies?

While searching the web for these competencies. I realized that most of the competencies expectations are the same as I mentioned.

HR department's objective is to empower its human as an empowered human helps the company grow. These set of competencies cover major attributes that a leader should have related to his attitude, professional skills and communication style which is the most important

These foundational skills have a cascading effect on many aspects of the leader's personality. A lot of time is invested in order to make employees self-sufficient. A big organization may become difficult to handle if each member is not a leader.

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