Effective authorization, "let people do things"

Charlie Posey, former U.S. senator and chairman of Bell Corporation, said of his management experience: "One of the lessons I learned early in my management career was: 'Don't think It takes care to select people, hire people, and empower them to work independently and take responsibility for their own actions.' I've found that helping my subordinates succeed is helping the company as a whole succeed. , of course, this is also my greatest personal achievement."

These words made me realize that the management of a company is no longer just a method of "doing things", but the art of "making people do things". In a normal operating enterprise, the general manager should devote 20% of his time and energy to the day-to-day management of the company, while the other 80% should be used to focus on the company's overall development strategy and management at the strategic level, such as: company strategic management , business strategy management, organizational strategy management, human resource strategy management, core personnel management, etc.

If the general manager of an enterprise devotes most of his energy to the daily operation of the company and ignores the thinking and execution of the company's strategic development direction, he will inevitably bring himself and the company into chaos, resulting in the following Problems:

——The decision-making power is too concentrated, the decision-makers are overwhelmed, and the employees cannot take their own responsibilities, which affects the company's response speed to customers and the market. Companies are likely to lose customers and market share by taking too long to make decisions.

——The management is too meticulous, causing the internal management system, system and process of the enterprise to be a mere formality. The operating efficiency of the enterprise may thus be reduced, and the cost will be relatively increased.

——Because the company's internal authorization system is not properly adjusted according to the different development stages of the company, the development of the company's strategic business is hindered. For a company with healthy development, its market performance should not be lower than the average market growth rate in order to maintain a certain market position. If certain policies are highly centralized within a company, such as financial policies, it may limit the development of business units, preventing them from competing in the market with those heavily armed competitors, thereby hindering the development of corporate strategy.

"Let people do things" must first be authorized effectively

It is imperative to establish a complete set of authorization management system, and to change the management of the company from the method of "doing things" to the art of "making people do things". So what exactly is "authorization"? Simply put, authorization refers to giving subordinates corresponding rights when assigning work, allowing subordinates to dispatch human, material and financial resources within a certain range; at the same time, allowing subordinates to make decisions on their own in order to achieve tasks. Power is like sand in your hand, if you squeeze it too hard, it's bound to drain from your fingers, causing power to slip within the business, but if you let it go completely, it's blown away by the wind, the business There will be chaos. Therefore, the importance of delegation in management cannot be overemphasized.

Effective authorization can not only allow subordinates to share work, but also make the best use of their talents, reducing waste of resources; effective authorization can not only allow employees to take responsibility, but also can effectively motivate employees; effective authorization can not only train employees, but also Can give employees a sense of achievement! The whole meaning and mystery of empowered art is: what to do? Let who do it? How to do it better? If the enterprise fully considers the above three factors, the use of reasonable authorization can improve the service level of the enterprise, enhance the market competitiveness, and can continuously innovate and enhance the flexibility of the enterprise, and enhance the efficiency and level of organizational decision-making. At the same time, it can also enable management to gain more time, relieve pressure, and enable employees to gain relative trust and motivation.

Review and reform the authorization system

In general, how should companies review and reform their authorization system? Here are my suggestions:

First, leaders should change their roles and position themselves as leading the business rather than managing it. Watson Wyatt's survey of more than 400 companies and tens of thousands of employees in China found that the primary factor that keeps employees in the company is the leadership of managers. It can be seen that the modern enterprise management system needs more leaders. Leaders have a way of motivating some talented people to do things better. And managers, who are always in the details of complex affairs, often equate "managing" with "complicating things". Therefore, in order to ensure the healthy growth of enterprises, leaders must change from managers to leaders. He must integrate into his day-to-day work, while always maintaining a big-picture view of strategic thinking, integrating the company's values and strategies with the company's day-to-day business activities, performance management and employee performance. Truly stimulate the growth of the entire organization and lead the organization in its day-to-day work.

Second, enterprises should adjust their authorization system according to the strategic needs of different development stages. It is difficult for an enterprise's authorization system to perfectly match the enterprise's strategic development. The authorization system of the enterprise must be adjusted within the scope of adapting to the development of the enterprise. If the direction of the appropriate adjustment is just in line with the strategic development needs of the enterprise, the operation of the enterprise can give full play to its overall and individual advantages, and the enterprise will obtain more benefits. . However, if the adjustment of the enterprise authorization system and the development needs of the enterprise run counter to the needs of the enterprise, the individual and the whole of the enterprise will be mutually restrained and the efficiency will be obviously reduced.

Third, strengthen the internal risk control of the authorized enterprise through a sound management system rather than individual behavior. For example, a strategic department can be set up within an enterprise to strengthen industrial and strategic research, to point out the strategic development direction for the enterprise, and to ensure its rapid development. Establish an enterprise development and operation management department to strengthen the control and management of daily operations, so that the operation of the enterprise is always consistent with the strategy. level. Perfect financial control system, strengthen budget management, achieve the process of pre-communication, in-process monitoring, and post-event inspection, and at the same time carry out differentiated settings according to the particularity of different departments, so that enterprises can control operating costs without losing operating costs. flexibility.

Fourth, through the establishment of a performance management system under the guidance of the strategy and through sufficient communication, the control over the operation under the authorization is strengthened to ensure that the departments under the authorization can operate in the direction consistent with the strategic development. The performance management here is not a simple performance evaluation, but after the strategic performance evaluation indicators are established, continuous performance management communication and periodic evaluation ensure that the authorized enterprise can maintain the development in the established strategy. Performance management under delegation must not be a simple control, not just telling the delegates what not to do, but more importantly, through effective guidance, so that they know what to do, and based on the delegates' management experience. Make appropriate and tailored delegations while encouraging all delegates to make relative decisions on their own. The supervisory agency of the enterprise cannot interfere with the decision of the authorized person, but guide and monitor the operation through regular written reports, face-to-face discussions and direct observation. If the leaders of the enterprise use good performance communication to convey the company's values and directional suggestions for the employees' work, instead of doing it themselves, I believe that they will gain more trust and support from the employees.

Finally, authorization is not laissez-faire. Enterprises should also formulate corresponding emergency response plans and take measures to reduce risks to prevent problems before they occur. Enterprises should first pay close attention to the possibility of risk occurrence. Enterprises should strive to predict various problems that may be encountered by authorized persons, list all possible risks and emergency measures, and regularly check the probability of occurrence of various risks. Reasonably adopt the exception management method, and adopt the exception management as the case may be. At the same time, it is also crucial to establish a key risk control indicator system. Identify the key risk control factors of the enterprise, such as scheduled time or specific budget management constraints, which can effectively restrict and monitor the behavior of authorized persons.

The author is the business director of East China and North China at Watson Wyatt Consulting. This article is published under the authorization of Watson Wyatt, from the August 2005 issue of Watson Wyatt Viewpoint.