In the previous article in this series, we presented 3 popular profiles of executives in organizations. If you have not had the opportunity to read it, please click here: https://hrm.pwr.edu.pl/en/2022/03/16/what-organization-profiles-may-a-person-from-the-hr-team-deal-with/
Today we take a closer look at the so-called “controller” model.
In the article you will learn about:
• what are the potential risks of such an approach
• who exactly is a leader-controller
• in what situations does such a profile works
Pattern characteristics
The pattern of the person managing the team, assigning tasks, and controlling their performance was already present at the beginning of the science of management. It was then that there was a need for people who would direct and dynamize the work of a very diverse group of people, usually working in a factory or on production lines. The emphasis placed on mastering the skills required in the workplace was incomparably less than controlling their working hours. In practice, this translated into a large number of employees with poor know-how or concentrated in only one place, e.g. assembling one part of the car’s suspension or selecting defective products from the product line. In such an environment, a need for a person who will monitor the effectiveness of employees, fulfillment of entrusted tasks, and direct people to specific goals of the organization has naturally developed (the main one is always profit, which often boils down to the previously mentioned). This is how the controller pattern was born.
One of the main attributes that we describe as such a person is the centralization of power in his hands. It is they who are responsible for deciding on the scope of work, requirements regarding deadlines, and, consequently, ensuring that the assumed goals are achieved. Its competencies also include monitoring the progress of each employee’s work (whether individually or in a group approach) and accounting for failures or delays. In general, such people also assume that there are no irreplaceable employees and that they take over key responsibilities from the workforce gap when necessary. The combination of such competencies means a fusion of positions such as project manager, talent HR manager (evaluation of work), product owner (control of the scope of current work), or even scrum master (preparation of meetings). As you can see, the range of roles is quite substantial.
At first glance, it may seem that the profile of a manager described above is something we want to avoid like fire. After all, we do not live in the times of the industrial revolution, and companies expect “something more”. But is it so? In what situations can such a solution help the organization? Especially when the organization is small (10-15 people) and the tasks performed by individual people are similar. The key skills are therefore not concentrated only on one or a few people, which makes it possible to focus on the most effective people. For example: if a company creates crosswords, the manager cares about the largest possible number of items produced in a certain quality, then he can control employees precisely in terms of efficiency and change them if necessary. Same for the IT support department. In the vast majority of cases, the implementation of team tasks is a simple interaction of team members with users – therefore their “grinding” of solved problems is measured and assessed on this basis – because what counts is the speed and quality of the solutions provided.
The combination of roles gives one more hidden benefit – there is a chance that the manager-controller has a very good “broad” (holistic) view of the situation in the entire team. If he deals with the organization of the scope of work, meeting deadlines, and the biggest problems of the whole group, he can easily see the possibilities of optimizing certain processes or directions of development. For example, it will be perfect for project teams that operate only for a short time and have few resources to approach the improvement of their resources matter-of-factly.
The problems
Unfortunately, a fairly obvious downside is the very diverse distribution of responsibilities in the team, which often leads to stagnation at work. Why? It is enough that the decision-making person does not show up 2/3 days at work and many tasks may not be completed at all (no “tap”) and the next ones will not even be undertaken. It takes place in dynamically operating organizations – focused, for example, on innovative products, or in companies dealing with the publication of press materials.
Depriving other people in the team of the opportunity to take action for the work of the team as a whole also often leads to very quick burnout and the lack of prospects for promotion (not necessarily in the management ladder but understood as additional tasks). The specter that every activity, contact with the client, or sentence from the work register is reviewed and assessed by someone, may adversely affect the willingness to undertake new tasks that have not been performed by anyone. Then the questions arise: will X be satisfied with this effect of my work, will I have to correct it later, and what freedom will I get?
An interesting solution for organizations in which the management model through control is deeply rooted and wants to bring something new to their work may be a hybrid approach. It consists in leaving the direct manager’s competencies to perform tasks such as effectiveness control or making business decisions but focusing on greater freedom in the performance of individual tasks by team members. This reduces the level of stress placed on the crew and allows for a more creative approach to problems. Of course, like any solution, it has two sides. This approach may reduce (at the beginning even drastically) the speed of performing tasks, but it will give hope that some aspects will be better analyzed in this way and the company will ultimately benefit from it.
Summary
It is worth thinking of the controller model as a certain characteristic, set of features, and behaviors, without unnecessarily demonizing such an approach to steering. A large scope of control does not have to mean in practice “setting a treadmill”, as we often think. It works in some circumstances and has advantages and disadvantages, but the key to using the pattern’s potential effect is to understand what you can control, what you need, and what you don’t need.
Author: Bartosz Stec