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Top, Middle Level and First Line Manager I Faindra Jabbar I Home Lecture

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In module 1, the hierarchy and responsibilities of the Top, Middle, and First Line leaders were defined. Top level includes the CEOs who set the goals and make the decisions that impact the entire organization; the Middle level leader carries out the goal set by the Top Level leaders; and the First Line Leader is in charge of the day to day work and overseeing the line workers.

To be a successful leader or manager, one must display a set of skills as portrayed in image #2.

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Module 2, the importance of diversity and inclusion was stressed by the importance of what a group of different backgrounds can bring to an organization when discussing projects, plans or a set of goals.

In the video clip, it substantiates the importance of the onboarding process of a new hired employee by including the mission, vision, and values of the organization, as well as, the training process to the hiring position. This sets the new hire up for success and a feeling of belonging.

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As an employer, you've probably spent a lot of time over the past couple of years reading the economic news and job reports to see if now is a good time to hire and onboard new employees. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, job openings near the end of 2022 were down slightly for a total of 10.3 million and total separations were at 5.7 million. The unemployment rate was at 3.7 percent, and millions of people were still looking for jobs. To attract the top talent among those job seekers, you need a solid hiring process. To keep them, it helps to create a smooth new hire onboarding process. In this article, we'll help you understand the differences between hiring vs. onboarding.

The hiring process

The hiring process includes advertising an open position, accepting resumes for it and vetting candidates. You want to focus on candidates who would be a good fit for the job and your company. The hiring process stops when you've chosen the right person, and they sign the acceptance letter and send it back. Here's a basic look at the main elements.

Identify the job or jobs needed. To start the hiring process, identify the job need. This could be filling new positions for new departments or filling a position after someone left the company.

Write detailed job descriptions. For each open position, write a detailed job description that includes an overview, required skills, education, and experience. Include any additional skills that would be beneficial to have.

Advertise/post on job boards. Next, post those open positions on job boards, like Monster, Indeed and LinkedIn. Also, don't forget to post on your internal job board.

Review applications and resumes. As you receive resumes and applications, review them. To sort the resumes and applications faster, it's best to run them through your hiring software. This will highlight resumes that meet all your requirements and eliminate resumes and applications that are missing items on your must-have list.

Conduct screening calls or videos. For candidates who look like a good fit, schedule initial calls and/or video chats. This will allow you to get a feel for each candidate and weed out the ones that you know won't be a good fit for the job or company culture.

Conduct interviews. Schedule and conduct interviews with those who met your initial requirements and aced the screening call. These interviews can be in-person or via a video chat, if the position is remote. Putting each candidate through the same process, as much as possible, makes it easier to make accurate comparisons.

Background and reference checks. Conduct background and reference checks for the employees who have made the final cut. Of those who pass the background and reference checks, determine which candidates you wish to hire.

Make an offer, negotiate. Create your job offer letter and mail or email it to the new hires. If the employee has questions about the job offer, pay or benefits, answer all questions. Be prepared to negotiate the salary and benefits if needed.

Wait for the new hire to sign it and email it back. Wait for the new hire to officially accept the position by signing and returning the offer letter.

Start the onboarding process. Once you have the signed letter, start the onboarding process.

Onboarding new hires

Employee onboarding starts when your new employee signs and returns the offer letter for the new job to human resources. Many HR departments start orientation and onboarding before the employee's first day. This can include sending a welcome packet, which might answer basic questions, outline company policies, describe the company's mission, and provide other information on the work environment. Some companies also ship equipment the employee needs for the job. Once the employee starts the official first day, the onboarding process involves learning the company's policies and procedures, getting to know coworkers, and receiving training. The onboarding process can last for one day and be a one-time event. At the other extreme, it can last for up to a year. Companies rarely go beyond 12 months, but it is possible. Here's a basic look at the process.

Before day 1, send a welcome packet including paperwork. Before the new employee's first day, send a welcome packet that includes the new hire paperwork, employee handbook, and, possibly, equipment they need for the job. If your onboarding is via a website, make sure that's included in the packet of information. This allows the employee to fill out all needed onboarding documents before their first day.

Provide an onboarding timeline. In the new hire paperwork or on the new hire orientation day, provide a timeline for onboarding and training so that the new employee knows what to expect.

If in person, give a tour of facilities and make introductions along the way. If your new employee is working at the office, give them a tour and introduce them to coworkers. If online, schedule a video chat with the department.

Schedule meetings with supervisor and team leaders. Make sure to schedule a time for your new employee to meet their supervisor and immediate team leaders.

Assign a mentor. Assign your new employee a mentor, which is a person they can go to if they have questions, comments or concerns about the company and their job.

Start training. Introduce your new employee to the training portal where they can start their new employee onboarding training sessions and view videos.

Schedule regular check-in meetings. To make sure your new employee is acclimating well, schedule regular check-ins where you can answer questions and help your new employee become a productive member of their team, department and the company.

Hiring vs. onboarding

Hiring well is one of the most important competencies a business can have. Great hires can propel a company to greatness. But to take full advantage of great hires, companies need to set up a strong system for onboarding employees. Onboarding and orientation should be part of a comprehensive process that gets a new employee off to a great start. A positive experience can improve employee engagement and set the stage for long-term success. One way to make new employees feel welcomed is to use services from TriNet to drive excellence in your hiring and onboarding.

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Hiring vs. Onboarding: Where One Stops and the Other Starts

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Understanding the difference between hiring vs. onboarding can help a company excel at both of these vital functions.

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The importance of businesses joining the global market was one topic of interest discussed in module 3. The World Trade Organization (WTO) is a very complex organization that helps provide business navigate the process to ensure the risk is worth it.

Also, when discussing the global market, it is important for business to be aware and follow local cultures and traditions. A good example, is the McDonald's in the US compared to those overseas, whether it is the cleanliness of the business or the menu supporting the local culture.

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How does McDonald's compare between Europe and the USA?

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Answer (1 of 11): Well, in addition to slight variations in the menu, to accommodate local flavours, one major differences in the taste of their burgers. In EU, it is illegal to grow or sell beef grown with growth hormones and fed with antibiotic feed. Apparently, because of this (presumably), EU...

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For a business to succeed, the leaders need to ensure there is a plan. A Business Plan is the most important part of a startup. The plan must be visited, reviewed, and revised often.

As discussed in module 4, the vision, mission, and value statements are key pieces to the Business Plan. These statements make it clear to all employees and customers what the business is about.

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Ethan Chazin, Culture Transformation Coach

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Vision, Mission, Values in the 21st Century. April 10, 2024

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In order for a business to function as a well oiled machine, an Organization Structure must be established as defined in module 5. This structure provides a visual for each employee to know who they report to and who reports to them. As well as, what get sent to who, for example, an operational/manufacturing or administrative/financial departmental function.

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Employees want to understand their job responsibilities, whom they report to, what decisions they can and should make and how they interact with other people and teams within the company. An organizational structure creates this framework. Organizational structures can be centralized or decentralized, hierarchical or circular, flat or vertical.

Centralized vs. Decentralized

Many companies use the traditional model of a centralized organizational structure. With centralized leadership, there is a transparent chain of command and each role has well-defined responsibilities.

Conversely, with a decentralized organizational structure, teams have more autonomy to make decisions and there may be cross-collaboration between groups. Decentralized leadership can help companies remain agile and adapt to changing needs.

Hierarchical vs. Circular

A hierarchical organization structure is the pyramid-shaped organization chart many people are used to seeing. There is one role at the top of the pyramid and the chain of command moves down, with each level decreasing in responsibilities and authority.

On the other hand, a circular organization chart looks like concentric circles with company leadership in the center circle. Instead of information flowing down to the next "level," information flows out to the next ring of management.

Vertical vs. Flat

A vertical organizational chart has a clear chain of command with a small group of leaders at the top-or in the center, in the case of a circular structure-and each subsequent tier has less authority and responsibility. As discussed below, functional, product-based, market-based and geographical organizational structures are vertical structures.

With a flat organization structure, a person may report to more than one person and there may be cross-department responsibilities and decision-making authority. The matrix organizational structure described below is an example of a flat structure.

Benefits of Creating an Organizational Structure

There are many benefits to creating an organizational structure that aligns with the company's operations, goals and objectives. Clearly disseminating this information to employees:

Provides accountability

Clarifies expectations

Documents criteria for promotion

Designates decision-making authority

Creates efficiency

Fosters collaboration

Essential Elements of Clear Organizational Structure

Regardless of the special type of organizational structure you choose, it should have the following components:

Chain of command

Roles and responsibilities

Scope of control

Decision-making authority

Departments or teams within the organization

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7 Organizational Structure Types (With Examples)

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Every company needs an organizational structure-whether they realize it or not. The organizational structure is how the company delegates roles, responsibilities, job functions, accountability and decision-making authority. The organizational structure often shows the "chain of command" and how info

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In module 6, the responsibilities of the Human Resources position was discussed. HR's primary position is with the company but also ensures the employees are informed of the company's policies and procedures.

Communication is key in business! Communication can be verbal or nonverbal; spoken or written; however it is not a a one way street. Communication goes up/down, across, and vice versa in all successful businesses.

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Leaders lead people through a mission, vision, and projects to an ultimate goal. Managers lead the day to day tastings involved to meet the ultimate goal.

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs is the simple ideals needed for a person to feel needed, important, and able to thrive daily.

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Business success or failure must be measurable. Setting programs in place for quality of service or product, customer satisfaction and employee engagement are all key factors to measure. Metrics are attached to all taskings and goals set, that analyze the information to inform leadership of the goals met and not met. A good example would be the success (or some failures) in the pandemic world of telework.

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Tom Flick, Leadership Speaker, Leadership vs. Management

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by Adam Hickman and Ellyn Maese

Story Highlights

44% of U.S. employees prefer working from home

Three domains can help measure hybrid and remote team productivity

Almost half of U.S. employees don't know what's expected of them at work

While many leaders remain optimistic about the future of work in 2021, some unresolved questions have spilled over from 2020. One being: How can organizations measure productivity with remote and hybrid teams?

Some even wonder whether organizations should measure productivity after a year as difficult on employees as 2020.

What's different now is not the performance measurement tools, but where employees are completing their work.

Gallup reports that 56% of U.S. employees are working remotely to avoid catching or spreading COVID-19. Further, 61% of U.S. employees are wanting to work from home and have embraced remote work because they prefer it now. All signs point to a growing number of hybrid teams in the future -- with some members on-site and some remote -- and hybrid workers who flex between working on-site and working remotely. The preference for working remotely accelerated the concept of hybrid teams to an extreme during 2020.

At first, laissez-faire management tactics likely worked as remote employees adjusted the way they worked to fit the new normal. But now, many hybrid and remote team members have evolved their own definitions of productivity in ways that may not align with managers' views of productivity. The real problem is this: what was acceptable as temporary stopgap operations in the initial crisis may not translate into long-term success.

Another problem is that managers who have long relied on casual drop-by check-ins, hallway conversations, or pre-meeting chatter to keep up on what their team members are working on, how they're doing, and the day-to-day operations are now feeling out of the loop or disconnected. Managers also need to trust that work is being done because they cannot physically see tasks being accomplished.

Measuring Performance Effectively Starts With Better Metrics

In today's workplaces, traditional, one-size-fits-all measurements for productivity are no longer effective in certain jobs or roles. These "objective" targets are often outside employees' control -- or focus on aspects of a role that aren't actually connected to customer or business needs.

For example, tracking how many hours an employee worked is a relevant metric for many businesses, but not a good measure of productivity on its own, because the quality, value, and availability of those hours worked are rarely understood. And while volume-based goals might seem smart, emphasizing quality or efficiency might be an equally important strategy for driving revenue.

The truth is, measuring performance is complex. A single metric rarely reflects all the nuances of an employee's responsibilities and contributions -- whether they are remote, in-person or hybrid. There are also many jobs that are vital to an organization's success but that cannot be directly tethered to these sorts of finite numbers.

The best organizations connect business outcomes to employee behaviors and the most important elements of a person's job. With these well-calibrated metrics, managers and employees can have effective conversations about personal development that promote peak productivity.

3 Universal Domains to Measure Hybrid and Remote Team Productivity

In an extensive qualitative analysis, Gallup discovered three performance domains that comprehensively describe and consistently predict success in a role:

setting goals and meeting them >> my work

partnering for effectiveness >> my team

translating work into its consequences >> my customer

These three core performance domains -- my work, my team, my customer -- are the standard framework that every leader can use to evaluate employee productivity, regardless of an employee's location. To harness these domains, leaders should turn their attention to the single role that has the most influence on team engagement and productivity: the manager.

The truth is, measuring performance is complex. A single metric rarely reflects all the nuances of an employee's responsibilities and contributions -- whether they are remote, in-person or hybrid.

Why Good Managers Are Necessary for High Productivity

Managers, who are responsible for 70% of their team's engagement, can promote excellence and build a foundation to reliably track employee productivity by completing two tasks: establishing clear expectations and setting clear goals.

While these two tasks sound simple, recent Gallup data show a different story: managers are struggling to accomplish them.

For example, expectations should be clear, collaborative, and aligned -- yet only six in 10 U.S. employees strongly agree that they know what is expected of them at work. That is, close to half of U.S. employees start their day with an unclear definition of what they're expected to achieve.

Close to half of U.S. employees start their day with an unclear definition of what they're expected to achieve.

This is a worst-case scenario for any employee -- let alone those who are disconnected from the office in a remote setting.

To remedy this problem, managers should prioritize ongoing performance conversations more than ever as employees may either be remote permanently or a mixture of both in office and remote. During these frequent conversations, managers should emphasize what success looks like -- giving employees a well-defined target for excellence.

Just as important is collaborative goal setting, which boosts employees' intrinsic motivation because they are active participants who must identify which responsibilities are most meaningful to them. Managers also benefit from a commitment to collaborative goal setting because it forces them to think about how to create individualized goals and best support each individual in realizing those goals.

With either remote or hybrid teams, managers should continue to challenge employees to set high standards for success and regularly review employees' progress toward meeting their goals. Expecting excellence and asking about progress encourages productivity because it enables managers to celebrate employees' success, maintain accountability and remove barriers to progress.

Great managers also periodically assess whether an employee's performance goals are still relevant. It is easy for managers to set goals and forget about them until it is time for a progress review, but consistently evaluating whether an employee's goals are appropriate for their role is just as important as reviewing progress made toward meeting them.

In the current state of your workplace, managers who narrowly focus on individual performance expectations will do so at the expense of team and customer outcomes -- outcomes that directly lead to achieving organizational goals. Organizations need a new way to think about performance: one that considers each employee's work, team and customer -- and that leaves employees with zero room to question what's expected of them.

Best of all, managers who ensure clarity and adopt a collaborative approach will find themselves with team members who own their performance goals -- even from a distance.

These basic tasks lay the groundwork for accountability, but managers must follow through. This means keeping an open dialogue and routinely scheduled check-ins to continuously monitor performance, ensure progress toward goals, and be ready to remove any barriers to productivity.

Great managers also know when it's time to dig a little deeper. When alignment seems strained or progress is missing the mark, great managers take the time to get to the root of what's causing it. Instead of jumping to conclusions about employees' shortcomings, they consider how the team, the organization, and themselves as a manager are setting employees up for success -- or not.

How to Lead Hybrid and Remote Workers

Managing remote and hybrid workers can't be over-simplified or reduced to a menu of virtual tools and video-conferencing software; it requires thoughtful adaptations of day-to-day tasks. Here are a few to try:

1. Increase the frequency of check-in conversations with remote and hybrid workers. This helps managers stay on top of progress and potential roadblocks, while also helping workers feel supported and connected.

2. Think about location. For hybrid workers, consider scheduling check-ins about performance in-person for a more natural conversation flow, but don't wait if the feedback needs to be timely. For remote workers, make sure you have a quiet, distraction-free environment with a solid internet connection for one-on-one conversations so that employees feel they are getting your full, undivided attention and don't miss important feedback.

3. Make milestones tangible. Connect goals with tangible outputs that make it clear what "progress" looks like. Everyone likes to have something to show for their hard work, but it can be especially helpful for remote or hybrid workers when you can't see the tasks they complete each day in person.

4. Be available. Make sure remote and hybrid workers have easy access to get their questions answered, clarify next steps, or discuss potential obstacles when they cannot simply stop by your office or flag you in the hallway. It might be helpful to have "office hours" on your calendar or a status update on your internal software system that lets them know you are available.

5. Don't neglect your relationships. Build in time for small talk during your check-ins and team meetings. This can make up for missing out on the casual conversations that abound in the workplace -- it's important to maintain rapport and help employees feel like they are cared about as people, no matter where they are.

6. Think "equity" at every turn. If you manage a hybrid or blended team, be watchful for differences in the employee experience between employees who are on-site vs. remote. Does everyone have equal access to opportunities? An equal say in decisions? Noticing and addressing any disparities early is key to avoiding tensions and long-term consequences that can arise from "favoring" employees based on their work arrangement.

Managers who lead high-performing teams are willing to listen to their employees' feedback and regularly solicit it. More importantly, they frequently act on it. Managers who model this kind of accountability inspire their team members to do their best work, too.

Navigating employee productivity and performance in a hybrid workplace:

Author(s)

Ellyn Maese, M.A., is a Research Associate at Gallup.
Bailey Nelson contributed to this article.

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Measure Performance: Strategies for Remote and Hybrid Teams

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Whether working from home, the office or a hybrid of the two, your employees need different performance metrics -- this change starts with the manager.