New Workplace Study Reveals That the Most Effective Business Strategy in 2009 was Improving Supervisory Relationships

NEW HAVEN, Conn., March 18 /PRNewswire/ -- Increased supervision and management was the #1 most effective business strategy during the economic crisis of 2009, according to recent research conducted by Bruce Tulgan and RainmakerThinking, Inc. The findings are based on a study conducted from October 2008 through January 2010.  

Our research found that businesses were most likely to pursue at least one of three strategies to deal with the economic downturn. The number one strategy was cost cutting. Number two was innovation. Number three was improving supervisory relationships and increasing management. Of course, managers who pursued all three of these strategies were by far the most successful. But among managers who only adopted one or two strategies, those who did not pursue the strategy of increasing management and improving supervisory relationships were the managers with the weakest results in 2009. And among managers who adopted only one strategy, those who focused on tightening up management relationships were the ones with the strongest results in 2009.  The single most effective business strategy in 2009 in the midst of this terrible economic crisis we've just lived through was improving supervisory relationships and increasing performance management.

We have been tracking the undermanagement epidemic closely for more than 10 years since we first identified it in our research.  We've intensified our study of undermanagement since we first reported on it in the landmark report we issued in 2004.

We define undermanagement as a substantial lack of the management basics in supervisory relationships.  The undermanagement epidemic persists throughout the workplace and is costing organizations a fortune every day.  On the bright side, we have seen time and again, when leaders, managers, and supervisors begin concentrating on back-to-basics management they have tremendous positive results. Like clockwork, productivity and quality improve, low performers tend to leave, high performers tend to stay and work harder, and most employees experience improvements in their morale and performance.

RainmakerThinking, Inc. Research has been the source of information for eighteen books, hundreds of articles by Bruce Tulgan, and has been cited in thousands of news stories around the world. Bruce is the founder and chairman of RainmakerThinking.  

SOURCE RainmakerThinking, Inc.