Case study. Martin had been a manager for more than 30 years. He had developed a tough but fair style that he applied impartially to all his direct reports. He thought it was best to treat everyone the same, that way things were fair and everyone knew what to expect. When he started at his new organization, he noticed that many of his new direct reports seemed to need a lot of handholding. This was frustrating for Martin, he didn’t understand why they couldn’t just do the work as assigned, mistakes were common too. One day when talking with a manager in another division, Martin expressed his frustration. “Sometimes our younger employees need a little more guidance,” she said, “They are newly out of college and aren’t sure what to do. They are used to having a lot of face time with their supervisors, maybe you could try that and see if it works.” Martin didn’t want to have to change, but he also didn’t want things to continue as they were. He tried spending one-on-one time with his new direct reports each time he assigned them new work so that they could discuss goals and expectations. He noticed that work improved.
