Interim Management Provider

One of the most disappointing comments I heard from a seasoned area manager when asked why he was not supporting his managers was "I am not allowed to get involved as

I am the next step of the appeal process".

A good measure of an area manager's competence is to look at the performance and behaviour of the area manager's branch manager team. It is pretty certain that if they

cannot coach and encourage Interim Management Provider branch mangers in the tackling of performance and behaviour issues then you can be sure they themselves are not tackling branch manager

performance or behaviour issues.

Possible Solutions

If a retail organisation needs to tackle performance or behaviour issues at branch levels, I believe they need to develop the skills and competence of performance

management at area management level first as area managers alone have the authority and are the biggest influence on branch manager effectiveness.

Unconscious competent area managers need to become consciously competent so they can not only develop others but also develop themselves further. Conscious incompetent

area managers need to admit that they are not effective in performance or behaviour management and be prepared to learn and develop the necessary skills. If they are

not prepared to do so then they themselves need to be performance managed by the company. After all, Executives cannot demand that branch managers tackle performance

and behaviour issues one moment and then not do so themselves when they need to. That isn't leading by example.