the new hr

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Thibaut Bardon
is Associate
Professor, Audencia
Nantes School
of Management,
France.
profit both those in charge and the workforce. They
have to make sense from the bottom to the top.
To achieve such a state of affairs, there are six
commandments any manager keen on managerial
innovations would do well to respect:
1. Do not use ready-made solutions
It would be foolish to think that off-the-shelf
answers exist to challenges found within a firm.
Gurus and consultants tend to propose readymade
solutions and present them as sure-fire
recipes for success. These products are therefore
sold as techniques that have proved their worth
in countless major groups. Their references are
impressive, making them credible in the eyes of
business leaders. The problem with this approach
is it does not incorporate the fact that each firm
is unique. To seek an answer without keeping
in mind an organisation’s past, its culture, or its
way of working would amount to short-sightedness.
2. Practise what you preach
Sadly, there are too many managers who bring to
mind the expression, ‘do what I say, not what I do.’
Such contradictions can take on many forms. A
business leader may make a plea for responsibility
within the firm and then fail to adhere to those
values. In the same way, a conservative manager
who sings the praises of innovation will not pass the
test. There is also the case of authoritarian directors
who call for management participation for all.
These gulfs between the message and the action can
create conflicts of meaning among the employees,
which translate into a lack of understanding, a
reduction in engagement, and even a resistance
to change.
3. Be aware of paradoxical prescriptions
It is worth stressing that managerial innovations
always take place in an existing structure.
This means that a certain company culture and
82 INDIAN MANAGEMENT NOVEMBER 2015