Making Tough Management Decisions

As a manager, there’s no escaping one basic truth – you’re paid to make the difficult decisions. You may or may not be paid well, granted, but that doesn’t really matter; the title of ‘manager’ inevitably means that you’ll have to make some tough solo decisions now and again. As the phrase goes, the buck stops with you.  

You could be forced to make tough budget decisions, fire poor providers, stop certain product lines, scale back on investments or even reluctantly decide to let something go that isn’t working. They’re tough enough decisions to make. Yet, as we’ll see in the second half of this book, these often tend to pale into insignificance when they compare to the decisions you may have to make about your personnel. These latter decisions may well be some of the most difficult problems you’ll ever have to deal with in your career.

You may have to decide to change people’s job descriptions, for instance, or cut their hours, choose which members of staff to make redundant or fire someone who just isn’t working out… none of which will be easy decisions to make.

It’s worth reiterating yet again that you are not in your job to get people to like you. That doesn’t mean you have to be an ogre but as a manager your loyalty first and foremost is to the company. You are there to make money, not to be popular or to make friends with your staff. It’s a bonus if they do like you but it’s not essential to doing a good job. In fact, I’d say it’s more important to be respected for making firm decisions than it is to be liked. After all, ask yourself: how would your employees treat you if they were the boss? Would they let you get away with things in a bid to be liked? Probably not!  

A true leader can make the big decisions. There’s a theory that says that 95% of the decisions a CEO makes can be made by any reasonably intelligent person who has graduated from secondary school, but those aren’t the decisions that really matter. The CEO instead is getting paid to make the other 5% of decisions, the really hard ones. Those are the ones that not just anyone can do. You may not be a CEO just yet, but the same rule of thumb applies: how you handle that 5% marks out just what kind of boss you really are.

In my career, I’ve had to let people go several times. In a couple of cases it was due to redundancy; with others, it was a case of not extending their contract, while one was sacked for gross misconduct. I’d be lying if I told you I could remember all of their names; I can’t. Not anymore. That doesn’t mean that I didn’t dwell on the decisions at the time though, or pore through the documentation looking for other options. Some had plainly deserved their fate; others were victims of circumstance while others still were let go for rather less obvious reasons.

The only ones that bother me now, so many years later, are the ones where I still wonder if I could or should have made a different choice. Ask any manager and they’ll no doubt have the same concern. At the end of the day, however, I made the most objective decision I could make at the time with the information at hand. That’s all you can do.

So, if you’re faced with a difficult decision, just how can you make sure you can make the best and most objective decision for your company?

• First, trust your instincts. Your gut should tell you what you really want to do, so make sure you listen to it.

• Before you do anything, understand the need for change. Some decisions may be automatic, while others are caused by a change in circumstances. The worst kind of manager is one who refuses to act when needed; it fosters resentment from employees as well as poor business practices. Putting your head in the sand doesn’t help anyone so start by recognising and respecting the need for a decision.

• Make sure you understand the problems, opportunities or issues at play. Gather as much information about the situation or problem you face as possible; make sure you understand why you need to make the decision in question. Don’t just gloss over it; an in-depth appreciation for the problem at hand will help to guide you to the appropriate response and course of action, not to mention allow you to anticipate potential problems that may arise in the future.

• Assess the alternatives. Don’t just fall back on creating one course of action; create many and test them out in your head. Assess the benefits and pitfalls of each. This not only gives you more than one option to choose from, but it may well help you personally with the decision in the future. If the decision you end up making impacts people’s jobs and livelihoods negatively, for instance, you’re going to want the peace of mind of knowing that you thought through and tried out every alternative before settling on your final choice. It’s also the least that you owe your team.

• While a manager’s life can be solitary – it’s lonely at the top, remember – you might want to ask external professionals for advice or insight into your problem or decision. Some towns and cities have professional groups where managers come together for support and mentoring. Obviously, make sure you trust the person involved first.

• When you’ve done all of that, consider the most effective alternative, taking into account all possible outcomes.

• Always do what you think is right for your team, your business, your customers and the company as a whole. Keep that at the front of your mind; it makes the choices you have to make much more matter of fact.

• Make the decisions with honour. If you have to make tough decisions about your team, don’t use it as a reason to settle old scores or to deal with personal issues, favouritism or preferences. This is a business decision; don’t dilute it with personalities. Step back from your thought process from time to time to assess if you are truly being objective. It’s much easier to hold your head up high when you explain the changes to your team that way.

• Avoid emotion. If you can eschew sentiment, you’ll actually find the decision easier to make. Staying factual and objective should make the right choice obvious and clear-cut, if not painless.

• Just because you’ve made the decision and now put it into action, doesn’t mean you have to stop there. Make an effort to learn from the outcome of your decision – what worked and what didn’t – and listen to any feedback. It will stand you in good stead for any future decisions that need to be made.