JOBS YOU CANNOT DELEGATE

A bright young manager, who had joined as a campus recruit from one of the premier institutions, had decided to leave. After holding some discussions with him the immediate supervisors confirmed that there was no hope of his staying back. The business head listened to the details of the discussions, and told the supervisor to send the employee to Mumbai. When the employee arrived in Mumbai, the business head spent almost 5 hours with the employee, at the end of which, the employee said it was his father who had influenced his decision.

The next day was a Sunday and this business head had a discipline of not attending to office issues on a Sunday. He landed up at the residence of the father of the employee in the suburbs, unannounced. The discussions continued till after lunch and the business head returned. The employee continued with the organization and today holds a responsible position. It is important to note that the employee was not even reporting to this business head. It was purely out of the commitment and an urge to retain this talent that the business head undertook this successful initiative.

Among the most important jobs, which a manager cannot delegate are those related to the hiring, motivation, development and retention of employees. Many managers and organizations do not appreciate the importance of reference checks as an important ingredient of the selection process. After all, aren’t we familiar with the reference check process that takes place during matrimonial alliance in our very own India? These reference checks are done by the parents themselves and not by their friends or relatives. Senior people in the organization would experience similar feelings if they directly interact with the customers and understand their pain area as opposed relying solely on the qualitative feedback through their managers or through surveys.

Just as you cannot delegate selection for a member in your team, you cannot delegate the motivation and retention of employee. You have to be personally responsible for your team member. For the employee, the supervisor is the organization and the accountability ends there. You can always use the organization machinery available to add to what you are doing but cannot completely delegate the process of retention. Some of the critical responsibilities of a manager are similar to those in personal life at various stages. You cannot delegate your responsibility of parenthood and a student cannot delegate the job of achieving success in the examination to someone else. If you want to take ownership for your success you also have to take ownership of the critical processes related to the people you select, motivate and retain. There is a popular axiom which says: Don’t do what you can delegate. The reverse of the axiom is equally true: Do not delegate what you must do.