In many of the weekend papers, there was mention made of Rogers Communications Inc.'s new CEO Guy Laurence, and his views on how he plans to improve customer service. It's no secret that Rogers has faced a barrage of negative feedback regarding its customer service. Mr. Laurence's stated goal is to fix that.
During an interview Mr. Laurence was quoted as follows:
"When you're creating accountability, removing overlap, then it takes less people in management so there will be job losses at the management level." He continues: "But on the frontline, I expect investment will grow."
Finally, a CEO who recognizes that accountability flows from the top down!
Guy Laurence understands that where accountability exists, gaps and compressions in management are more easily identified. This leads to a recalibration in the number of managers. It's not a simple across-the-board ten per cent reduction - it's a deliberate review of the value that each manager brings to the organization.
In my book, How Dare You Manage? I explain how a corporate should downsize. The bottom three levels of any organization remain constant, and these are the frontline staff, their managers, and their managers' managers (also known as directors). Once the core function is identified, the desired capabilities for frontline staff are identified, and each frontline team is given a manager.
If downsizing demands the removal of a level of work, this needs to take place at the top, and not at the bottom. I am encouraged by Mr. Laurence's mention that more investment will be made at the frontline!
