Embracing Change Hong Kong's people management paradox by Susie Gyöpös How to find the right balance between being a tough leader and a nice boss? It is not easy and there are no rules, only rough guidelines. A CityU survey makes a few points for Hong Kong bosses to note... Although Hong Kong's employers are seen as hard working and able to keep on top of industry developments, a recent Quality of Life survey from City University's Department of Management suggests that they are weak at communicating with their staff. In addition, compared to similar studies in Western Europe, superior-subordinate relationships appear to be surprisingly poor. Unhappy workers "It's amazing, because we talk about guangxi, harmony and Chinese culture in Hong Kong," says team-leader Prof Leung Kwok, head and chair professor of management at CityU. "But it turns out that, hierarchically, people don't get along. Subordinates are really suffering and in some pretty bad relationships." Indeed, Prof Leung and his team from City University's department of management found that, when they interviewed a random selection of 427 full-time employees from across Hong Kong last November 2002 about their jobs and their perceptions of their superiors, the latter was perceived to be one of the major stress factors among employees in the SAR. According to the team's findings, Hong Kong employees felt that their bosses' main weaknesses included: being too demanding; pretending to be democratic; showing partiality; managing poorly by example; being emotional; being deceptive; listening inadequately; being narrow-minded; talking rather than acting; and creating high pressure. "The survey revealed that most people didn't really feel their salary was low and didn't complain about working hours - I think the average was about 50 hours, but they're used to it. [Instead], they complained that 'my boss doesn't listen to me' and 'I can't utilise my talents'." Frustration and pressure It is easy to point the finger at today's declining economy and down-sizing trend when it comes to explaining some of these grievances and Prof Leung readily admits that these have much to do with poor subordinate-superior relationships. "Unreasonable pressure is one result," he says. "Employers are under a lot of pressure and already out of control. They're pushing people to work hard, saying 'Do it, or you'll be fired!' It's better to make sure your people are together with you. Our [Hong Kong] managers haven't done that, which is why it's backfiring." Other management styles can also irritate and frustrate people. For example, although Chinese culture is traditionally autocratic, an element of democracy is being demanded in today's workplaces due to better employee education and rising expectations. But workplace democracy is often a mere pretence. Prof Leung says: "Employers aren't really democratic yet - it's just a show, which creates what we call the frustration effect." Does this apply to me? Should employers bend to please their unhappy employees or ignore their complaints? "We never know if [the complaints are] valid; you have to go in and observe, of course. But if you have a lot of people complaining about these things, you have a problem, because you can't manage them any more," Prof Leung explains. "Most people didn't really feel their salary was low and didn't complaint about working hours... Instead, they complained that 'my boss doesn't listen to me'and 'I can't utilise my talents' ” "I think that managers are quite similar across Hong Kong, to some extent. When we got the results, people said, 'Ah, my boss is like that!' It's quite amazing. I've been telling employers 'Don't do these things! You don't think you have done it, but you've done it already!'" Do it better If you decide to follow these findings, note that Prof Leung believes that good management is inherently paradoxical: "You can't be too soft, it just doesn't work, but if you're too tough it backfires too!" How can you optimise being nice and being tough in order to get results? "There's no standard answer." He advises accepting life's inescapable high pressure and increasing demands by citizens, consumers and customers. Employers should help their employees understand that this can be used as "positive energy" and try to make them feel challenged, rather than frustrated. "If you want to be directive, say it! Delineate the areas where you treasure input and will act on things from a grass roots level, but tell people there are other areas that can't be negotiated." Make people understand that both domains are really different. Otherwise you'll create expectations and, when it turns out that you don't react to input, people will be very frustrated." On the other hand, if you really want your subordinates to make their own decisions about something, Prof Leung encourages you to take the plunge. However, be warned that if, after encouraging them to take their own decisions, you interfere and start telling them what to do, "they'll become very angry," he says. "Let them do it first, for a while at least. Then when they get in pain, go in and help. People will think you're really quite a good leader. It takes some management wisdom to let people learn the hard way!" WHERE DO BOSSESS GO WRONG? Top 10 weaknesses 1. Too demanding 2. Poor management by example 3. Pretends to be democratic 4. Inadequate listening 5. More talk than action 6. Deceptive 7. Partial 8. Emotional 9. Narrow-minded 10. Creates high pressure Other common complaints 1. Doesn't care about subordinates 2. Sloppy 3. Lack of analytical power 4. Lack of professional knowledge 5. Not updated on industry developments 6. Playing politics 7. Unreasonable 8. Absent-minded 9. Lazy 10. Stupid Taken from Career Times 11 April 2003 Your comments are welcome at [email protected]