Manager Add Value

Yes believe it or not - But Managers Add Value. The very reason management exists is because managers add a lot of value to the organization.

I first stumbled across this statement during Corporate Finance class at Australian Graduate School of Management. Where our instructor kept on repeating this statement. After few years of soul searching and extensive management development training, I am finally convinced that managers add a lot of value.

However, many people feel overwhelmed with the concept of value and many times misunderstand what value really means. Is a manager, who is just tracking hours spent by employees on the job is adding any value ? Or what value relationship managers add ? Does the value creation has any link to the remunerations paid to the managers ?

I would argue that management by its very nature exists to add value. The fact that a person has been employed to track employee hour spent on job suggests that such tracking information is important for an organization to assess and improve its value chain.

The challenge for most managers and management employing such managers is to understand that value created by a manager should be adequately rewarded. That brings us to the interesting topic of measuring value. Do we measure value purely in terms of financial figures e.g. revenue increased, costs saved etc or Do we measure value in terms of emotional quotient e.g. displayed empathy, built strong coherent team.

I think it is a mix of both. One can't be achieved without the other. For example, if the manager does not have emotional quotient it is difficult for him to get commitments from his subordinates. Which means that subordinates do not take initiative and are happy to follow directions. That results in organization missing out on performance improvement avenues.

So, coming back to original point. Yes, managers add a lot of value. It is upto the organization to put in relevant systems in place to ensure value created is adequately captured and people creating such value are properly rewarded.