By Bernard Bwoni
Zimbabwe is a country that is on the portal of a
groundbreaking economic genesis and it’s not a case of if, but when. This
extraordinary economic and social transformation is under serious threat due to
the country’s human base exodus in recent years. The unprecedented export of
Zimbabwe’s young and highly skilled human resources threatens to interrupt this
economic phenomenon. It is that lack of middle management with expertise and an
international exposure that presents the country with a real dilemma. The
middle management is the nucleus and the engine that drives up and revamps
organisations. Zimbabwe is on the platform of a major economic takeoff and the shortage
of middle management capacity is potentially the most urgent constraint to this
launch. For Zimbabwe that engine has been dismantled to pieces and its various
components spread across the world. It is worrying that the experienced middle
management with the right market intelligence is not entirely centred where it
is most urgently needed and that is at the heart of the Zimbabwean economic
core.
The locally trained and experienced middle managers
are no less efficient but unfortunately they lack that critical exposure to the
wider management practices and have little in the way of practical training and
experience at an international level. You go to events in and around London where
there is an array of Zimbabwe’s finest on display. What comes to mind is what
is the government doing to harness this critical component to the country’s
revival? The right middle managers with the right attributes locally are
side-lined as nepotism and corrupt backhanded practices have rooted themselves
into almost every fabric of our society. That international exposure to diverse
and more current practices is just crucial. The only sure way towards enhanced
organisational performance and efficacy is strategic involvement by middle
management. That layer of eager-beaver supervisors who act as a buffer between
senior management and the workers on the ground. It keeps any organisation
ticking and moving forwards and is that lubricant in the middle. It sets the
objectives on the ground, identifies responsibilities, risks and has the
knowledge of how to manage and control processes. Middle management has the
role of engaging workers, identifying the effects of failure and taking
appropriate action. Left to their own devices, workers are not productive! This
is common sense, this is stating the obvious some will say, but then if this is
common sense and stating the obvious why are we still talking about it?
The role of middle management is to identify risk
and the effects of failure and take action. The middle manager has that role to
drive up his or her own department, and appropriately report to senior
management. Let us stop blaming senior management for failure to execute the
responsibilities of middle management! It is a fact that strategy and execution
are not mutually exclusive and without planning you cannot execute and strategy
without execution is pointless.
An effective middle management relays orders,
decisions and guidance downwards and most importantly they take problems,
difficulties and suggestions upwards to their superiors. It is easy to blame
President Mugabe for this mediocrity from the so-called middle management we
have! The middle management deals with operations on the ground and they should
be interpreting and explaining policies framed by top management and motivating
workers on the ground to work towards organisational, departmental and national
vision and goals.
Senior management set out the policies and blue-prints,
the vision and direction for the organisation or department. The expectation is
that this is delegated to middle management to promulgate down to the ground
and the middle management must understand the jobs below them, what is expected
of those jobs and how to appropriately report to top management. Zimbabwe is a
country going through socio-political redefinition and this level of management
is critical to this change process. Senior management has a responsibility to
disseminate exactly what is expected of middle management and follow up is just
as crucial.
Zimbabwe is on the threshold of a major economic
boom and that is fact. So a failure of senior management and a lack of middle
management will only hamper our socio-economic journey. Workers need to be
managed; workers have to be managed and managed effectively that is.
Bernard Bwoni can be contacted at bernardbwoni.blogspot.co.uk
No comments:
Post a Comment