STEP UP TO THE TOP TABLE
MORE than 100,000 new managers will be employed nationally in the five years to May, 2023, and while the promotion will be welcome to many, navigating the first days on the job may not be smooth sailing.
The Australian Jobs 2019 report reveals a 7.6 per cent increase in managers employed between 2013 and 2018, and cites the fact managerial work is nonroutine and cognitive, so it is less susceptible to automation.
The 7 per cent growth forecast will take the management workforce to almost 1.7 million people, or 12 per cent of all workers.
First-time managers can encounter many hurdles with interpersonal relationships, rather than new duties.
Although some struggle with no longer being hands-on with occupational tasks they have been trained to do, others find the office politics tiresome.
Hays Queensland managing director Darren Buchanan says one of the hardest parts is managing former peers and friends.
“Give it time and stick to the boundaries that you put in place, and soon you’ll establish a professional but also open and amiable dynamic,” he says.
Robert Walters director Sinead Hourigan says communication is key to making the transition, especially if promoted internally.
“Take each of the team aside separately and explain how excited you are to be working with them,” she says.
“Ask them what they most or least enjoyed about previous managers. Give them confidence you are going to be as collaborative as you can be.
“The next thing you need to do is accept that your relationship with your friends/ colleagues does have to change.”
Hourigan says managers still can socialise with workers but they need to understand they will now be viewed differently.
Ferris Management Consultants psychology executive director Dr Nerida Hillberg says new managers should keep in mind that others may be feeling stung if they had applied for the role.
“The initial days are critical for setting the tone moving forward,” she says.
“My advice is to listen more than you speak.”
Gus Abimosleh is a residential services manager at an aged care home. From working as a podiatrist, he says his career in aged care has progressed to community services co-ordination, then community services management; business, hotel services, and healthcare services management; and then project management.
Abimosleh’s first role as a manager involved leading a significant change process, which he says was a great learning experience.
“At the time, I thought studying management gives you all the tools you need to do the job, which is a mistake many new managers make,” he says.
“I came to realise that seeking out, listening and being open to learning from the experience of others is an essential part of being a good manager. In hindsight, I would have done that more in the early days.”