????要招到這樣的“后臺管理者”，公司必須轉(zhuǎn)變用人標準。公司不能再簡單地把業(yè)績最佳的員工任命為中層管理，而是在招聘時挑選善于處理矛盾沖突的人選。“培養(yǎng)具有同情心和換位思考能力的經(jīng)理人不能寄希望于學校，”達文波特說。

????舉例說，在美國西南航空公司 (Southwest Airlines)，管理者需訓練行李處和登機口的員工，幫助他們掌握飛機晚點或其他應急事件發(fā)生時的處理方法。因此，后臺管理者的職責是為員工提供指導，幫助他們自主解決問題，而不是親手示范。得益于此，西南航空的工作運轉(zhuǎn)十分有效，公司業(yè)績也節(jié)節(jié)攀升。

????思科系統(tǒng)公司（Cisco）是達文波特作為韜睿惠悅公司咨詢顧問在2010年服務(wù)的客戶之一。達文波特介紹說，思科系統(tǒng)公司在中層管理工作方面進行了大刀闊斧的改革。改革之前，思科的中層管理用于員工管理的時間占全部工作時間的25%，而用于編寫代碼及處理軟件相關(guān)工作的時間占75%。2010年的培訓結(jié)束后，中層經(jīng)理們意識到，之前用于實施員工管理的時間遠遠不夠。于是，思科改變了中層管理的工作性質(zhì)，設(shè)立專門的認證機制，并按照新方案實施管理者培訓。

????“要想成功，就不能同時扮演球員和教練這兩個角色。實際上，這么干的人絕大多數(shù)最后都以失敗而告終，”達文波特說。

????改革之后，思科的中層管理人員花在管理上的時間占到了75%，而處理軟件工作的時間只占25%。達文波特說，中層管理者將工作重點轉(zhuǎn)移到管理上，思科公司也因此提高了整體生產(chǎn)效率，留住了許多普通員工和經(jīng)理人。然而，思科公司依然決定進行大規(guī)模人員重組，并宣布在當年的夏季裁員6,500人。

????幾年前，位于加州圣拉菲爾的設(shè)計軟件提供商歐特克公司（Autodesk）進行了一項客戶調(diào)查，歐特克公司的銷售培訓總監(jiān)布萊恩?克拉雷稱，該項調(diào)查主要研究最出色的銷售經(jīng)理所具備的共同技能。這項調(diào)查顯示，為公司創(chuàng)造最高效益的銷售經(jīng)理每月為每位員工做一對一工作指導的時間是四個小時。如今，歐特克公司重新定義中層管理人員的工作內(nèi)容，讓他們拿出更多的精力用于制定銷售策略和推進銷售進度。而在此之前，銷售經(jīng)理的絕大部分時間都用在自身的銷售工作上，用于幫助其他員工的時間非常有限。

????克拉雷說，現(xiàn)在歐特克公司雇傭的經(jīng)理級員工必須符合這樣的標準：“富有合作精神，善于聆聽，對客戶需求了如指掌”。此外，許多繁雜的行政工作已經(jīng)實現(xiàn)自動化管理，中層管理者終于可以從中抽身，用更多的時間來指導其他人的工作。

????“那些為員工掃清工作障礙，并給予慷慨激勵的管理者實現(xiàn)了畢馬龍效應（人們會不自覺地接受自己喜歡、欽佩、信任的人的影響和暗示，從而獲得一種積極向上的動力）。這就是正面心理暗示在工作中的積極影響，”達文波特說。

????譯者：富來細特\汪皓

????For offstage leaders to do their jobs well, companies must hire differently. Rather than naming the best producer as a manager, more companies ought to hire managers that understand how to handle conflict. "You can't send a manager to empathy school," Davenport says.

????Southwest Airlines' (LUV) managers, for example, train baggage and gate staff to know exactly what to do if planes are late or other problems arise. Hence, the offstage manager provides the tools for employees to solve problems on their own; the manager doesn't have to be there to lead the way. Provided with these resources, the Southwest employees know how to keep the planes moving, which in turns helps Southwest boost its business.

????Cisco (CSCO) made major changes in how their middle managers operate, says Davenport, who consulted for the company in 2010 as part of Towers Watson. Previously, most Cisco managers spent about 25% of their time managing staff members and 75% of their time writing code or doing software-related work. When Cisco managers went through training in 2010, they realized they didn't have enough time to manage their staff. So Cisco changed the nature of the job and created its own certification program to train managers based on this new approach.

????"You can't be a player coach and win. Most player coaches lose," Davenport says.

????Cisco changed how their middle managers did their jobs, and they now spend 75% on managing others and only 25% of their time keeping their pulse on software. By having managers focus on managing, Cisco boosted its productivity and retained managers and staff longer, Davenport says. However, that didn't prevent the company from announcing plans to lay off 6,500 employees this summer as part of a larger reorganization.

????Several years ago, Autodesk, a San Rafael, Calif.-based producer of design software, performed customer research on what skills its highest producing sales managers possessed, says Brian Cloughley, Autodesk's director of sales training. The research showed that managers who spend four hours per month coaching each sales employee generated the highest revenue for the company. Autodesk redefined the job so managers could focus on presales planning and how to close deals with their customers. In the past, managers spent most of their time selling and only paid a limited amount of attention helping other employees.

????Autodesk now hires managers who are able to "collaborate, listen, and understand client concerns," Cloughley says. Many of the manager position's more burdensome administrative tasks were automated, freeing middle managers to coach others.

????"The managers that clear obstacles and encourage staff create a Pygmalion effect. That's the influence expectations have on performance," Davenport says.