Management by grandma

Have you experienced that you have sent off an email and never got a reply? Or called a person and the call was never returned? How many times do you have to wait for a person's arrival, always late?

How many times have you visited a company and felt ignored already in the reception area?

Are we talking about values? Some time ago, I was running a forum for top chief executives, and had invited the CEO of TELE2, at the time, Mr Lars-Johan Jarnheimer as my key note speaker. Lars-Johan Jarnheimer, told the audience that he had one trainee per year who followed him everywhere at work for a whole year, in order to learn about the organisation, the culture and managerial issues. He also described that very often the trainees, sometimes had studied at the university, up to seven years, before they came to work for Tele2. The first thing Lars-Johan had to deal with was the trainee's behavior. Lars-Johan described: "They have up to seven years of studies, at the university, but they have never learned the basics which he called "management by mormor".

These basic skills can be summarised as:

• be on time
• say hello
• return a call
• return an email.

Know who the clients are and what their needs are.

Lars-Johan Jarnheimer had brought the 'management by grandmother' concept with him from his time at H&M. He taught his trainees how to behave. To get knowledge about the company's clients he urged not only the trainee but every employee at the headquarters to work in the customer services call centre for a whole week to answer the customer's questions and to sort out their problems.

"I was not very popular at the times when the bus was sent to the headquarters to fetch the employees and to take them to the call centre, Lars-Johan Jarnheimer described with a big smile" .

One more thing

Unfortunately, with change comes redundancy. What does your company offer those made redundant? Outplacement? Coaching? There are several options on the market. A consultancy firm usually provides the outplacement services which are paid for by the former employer and are achieved through practical advice. Psychological support is essential through the transition to new jobs. Career coaching is often provided by former employers. Are they experienced enough to handle a person in grief? In stress? In shock? A jobseeker needs EQ coaching. Perhaps the person has been employed for many years and all of a sudden is "not wanted". Many times, I have seen people who have lost their jobs having a breakdown in front of me. I have learned how important it is to be able to handle the situation. How to handle a person in grief and in shock.

To regain your personal power it is useful if your coach is knowledgeable in crises management. You will experience better and more sustainable results.