Managing Up is what takes place in a certain company culture.
In order for it to work properly the CEO, and all executive members, must be on board with this particular style of running the operation.
The foundation of this culture is not that new; many people have said “If you’re not serving the customer, you better be serving someone who is.”
But saying it and seeing that it happens are two very different things. It takes a lot of work and sincere commitment to make it happen.
Here is how it works.
Basically, a Store Manager – either on their own or on behalf of an employee – is welcomed and encouraged to bring ideas and suggestions to upper management.
In this culture, it is believed that the people on the front lines truly are the window to the customer and to the effective operation of the stores.
So, when they talk, management listens.
There is a lot of responsibility on the part of the Store Manager to have credible information; the facts and figures behind the idea.
If the Store Manager believed in the idea strongly enough to have invested some time doing research and to put his reputation on the line in order to have a new process or procedure put in place, the executive team would always make the time to take a good look at the idea.
In the final analysis, there could be only two possible outcomes:
- The idea was implemented and a date for implementation was set.
- The idea was rejected and the Store Manager was given all of the reasons why it was rejected. If the Store Manager was not satisfied with the reasons he was invited to ask questions of the executive in charge until he was convinced; of course, sometimes he might be able to convince the executive to change the decision depending on how good the argument was.
In every case the Store Manager was satisfied in the end. Either the idea was implemented or he understood why it could not be.
The point is that every Store Manager was invited to contribute in any area of the business and to make suggestions for improvement.
Not surprisingly, continuous improvement was alive and well in that organization.
The other major benefit this company enjoyed was strength in their team.
They had very good people who offered support to each other and employee turnover was very low. They prospered.
In an organization like the one mentioned here, it makes sense that some Store Manager’s would have some serious influence in how things are done in the company.
The ones who could see the bigger picture and make recommendations for the good of the company and back those recommendations up with good solid research would naturally become known throughout the organization.
People could go to those Store Manager’s for feedback on any number of things – from how a particular item might be accepted by the customer to store operating procedures and everything in between.
Highly Successful Retail Managers (HSRM) believe strongly, and thrive, in this culture.
If the organization the HSRM is working in does not operate like this, then the HSRM simply operates his store(s) like this.
