How to determine what competencies a candidate for a leadership position lacks. Management competencies of senior managers Competencies of a sales manager

director, consultant-trainer

LLP "BKT" (Business Consulting-Training),

Almaty city

A correct forecast of market trends allows you to develop strategies, anticipate possible barriers to success and quickly find ways to overcome them. It is very important to be able to mobilize all resources in cases of difficulties and failures, clearly set priorities, analyze various alternatives and find optimal solutions. Business efficiency is primarily determined by the managerial competence of managers.

Managerial (job) competence is a set of knowledge, practical experience, skills and personal qualities of a manager, allowing him to efficiently solve certain problems to achieve certain results.

Qualified management is carried out on the basis of knowledge acquired through training and practical experience.The basis of management is knowledge, useful experience of other companies, the manager’s own experience, proven tools and skills in using them.. Practical knowledge in management is of greater value than theoretical knowledge; useful experience is carefully studied and passed on, and a well-designed tool for solving problems brings much more benefit than scientific theories.

Based on our understanding of the essence of management, we can say that the most sought-after management competencies of a top manager are:

1. Strategic thinking (systematic, planned, ability to foresee the “picture” - the result).

2. Knowledge of basic marketing principles to manage the company's position in the market.

3. Ability to manage financial flows, incl. use mechanisms for investing in new projects.

4. Knowledge of production and operational activities (purchasing, logistics, warehousing).

5. Understanding of the laws of the market, the ability to organize marketing and sales processes.

6. Ability to develop new products or services.

7. Understanding of information technologies and approaches to process automation.

8. Carrying out business administration.

9. Knowledge of relevant legislation regulating business.

10. Human resource management skills

11. Ensuring security - commercial, informational, economic, personnel.

12. Maintaining public relations (building the reputation and image of the company in society, in the business community or in the market - your choice).

At the same time, any manager performs a certain number of administrative functions, such as:

collection and analysis of information;

• making decisions;
• planning;
• organization;
• coordination;
• control;
• motivation;
• communications.

A good manager must be an organizer, a comrade, a mentor, an expert in setting tasks, a leader, and a person who knows how to listen to others. He must have a good understanding of the capabilities of his direct subordinates, their abilities to perform the specific work assigned to them.The manager must know the principles of interaction between department heads and employees within the company, develop teamwork in order to maintain the unity and correct functioning of the company. It is impossible to combine in one person the variety of skills and qualities of a top manager listed above, but it is possible to clearly define the list of requirements for a specific managerial position, taking into account the specifics of the industry, the characteristics of the management system and corporate culture of a particular company and its development goals.

The competency method is becoming increasingly popular in dynamically developing companies, as it involves the use of a single language in business processes. This is an effective way to describe a job because most jobs can be described using 10 to 12 individual competencies. For example, the international construction corporation Tarmak uses 10 competencies, and the management model of the Xerox company includes 32 competencies.

In a sense, the number of competencies used in a particular model does not matter; it depends on the characteristics of the industry, the specifics of the company, the management system, corporate culture, etc.The number of competencies should be convenient for conducting management work and for assessing the performance of a manager.

In domestic practice, two main groups of competencies required by a manager are used:

1. WITHspecial competencies– those skills and abilities that are related to the field of professional activity. For example, the CFO must be able to analyze a balance sheet, and the head of a programming team must be proficient in the most important programming languages.

2. Bbasic competencies– a group of competencies that is based on the intellectual, communicative, emotional and volitional qualities of a person.

When determining basic competencies, it is necessary to take into account the general specifics of managerial work, which is that:

• The manager's work does not have a clear end in time. He is always busy, since the organization operates daily in the market and is constantly influenced by changes in the external environment, where there are risks and opportunities that must be anticipated in order to make correct and timely management decisions;
• the work of a manager forms the basis of the management process in any organization and is based on his knowledge, experience and perception of the new (application of best practices, new techniques and methods in work);
• The manager’s management style shapes the corporate culture of the organization and radically affects its image and business reputation;
• An important part of managerial work is the ratio of the time spent by managers in accordance with the levels and functions of management. The higher the level, the more time is allocated in favor of representative communications: business meetings, negotiations and meetings. The lower the level of management, the more time the manager spends among subordinates in the context of making operational decisions in a specific department on a specific issue.

The competency model describes the position of a manager in three dimensions:

• vision (vision) – the ability to think at the strategic and tactical levels, the ability to predict the future and anticipate the emergence of problems;
• action (action) – the ability to dynamically and progressively move towards achieving the desired result (for example, clear planning of actions, perseverance in the pursuit of a goal);
• interaction (interaction) - the ability to build relationships with others that help achieve the best results in work (for example, the ability to motivate subordinates, the ability to work in a team).

In 2007, the company “Anthropos-consulting” published a dictionary-reference book “Manager’s Competencies” (author V.E. Subbotin), which presents the most complete list of competencies for different job groups. According to experts in the development of competencies, the activities of a manager can be divided into several areas of competencies:

• Special professional competencies – competencies necessary for a manager to resolve issues that constitute the content of the processes and functions for which he is responsible. Special competencies reflect the level of proficiency in issues related to the operation of equipment, procedures and technologies of the production process. Essentially, it is knowledge and skills related to a specific subject area: for example, finance and accounting, information technology, engineering, chemistry, construction, etc.
• Business competencies - These are general competencies; they are necessary for managers in any field of activity. These competencies constitute the main content of MBA programs and include systemic analysis of the situation, making strategic decisions, attracting external and internal company resources to solve business problems, budgeting, forecasting income and expenses, reducing enterprise costs, reporting, etc.
• Knowledge Management Competencies reflect the manager’s ability to work with information, manage information flows, learning and development processes in the organization. Knowledge management competencies include skills such as information search, conceptual, analytical thinking, problem solving, understanding the essence of organizational development processes, and ensuring that employees acquire new knowledge and skills.
• Leadership competencies relate to the field of leadership and people management. They reflect the manager’s ability to manage his own power, direct the activities of subordinates in a certain direction, provide support to subordinates, show concern for them and empower them. In addition, leadership competencies presuppose that the manager has the ability to create in subordinates a state of focus on a common task, the ability to work with a diverse team, support the creative activity of subordinates and create a sense of community in the organization.
• Social or interpersonal competencies refer to a manager's ability to build and maintain optimal relationships with people (the public, shareholders and other stakeholders). The presence of this ability requires the development of certain social skills, such as understanding other people and their behavior, communication skills and interaction with others, creating proper motivation in people, as well as the ability to prevent and resolve conflicts. Ideally, a socially competent manager is able to put himself in the shoes of another person, correctly assess his expectations and build his behavior taking into account these expectations. This is the ability to behave socially appropriately.
• Intrapersonal competencies . They are based on self-confidence, the tendency to influence one’s environment, the desire to improve and radically change the existing situation, focus on results and self-development, the ability to act in conditions of uncertainty, developed self-awareness and self-control skills.

It is obvious that for different leadership positions each of the listed areas of competence has a relatively different meaning. For example, a commercial director requires interpersonal competencies; for the production director, the area of ​​technical competencies may come to the fore; for the CEO - leadership competencies. The relative importance of individual competencies and their groups, of course, is not automatically determined by the job title. It all depends on the characteristics of the company and the content of job responsibilities.

There are also different approaches to describing competencies. Let us use an example to demonstrate the use of different approaches to compiling the “Planning” competency. The Dictionary of Managerial Competencies states thatplanning –this is the ability to develop an effective program of one’s own activitiestake out .

The following types of assessment of this quality in a manager are proposed:

1. The ability to organize and plan one's own work in such a way as to effectively use working time, avoid unnecessary effort and meet deadlines.

2. Accurate estimate of the time it will take to completeone or another task.

3. Periodic monitoring of the pace of work progress, withneed to adjust it to meet the deadline.

4. The ability to devote time to analyzing a particular issue, but always remember that the work must be completed on time.

5. Preparation for business meetings, preliminary familiarization with the necessary information.

6. Effective use of time control tools (timers, calendars, weekly planners).

7. Sequencing the execution of individual tasks depending on their urgency and importance.

8. Planning work taking into account the plans of your partners, if the work requires interaction.

Business coach Z. Dmitrieva in her book “Managing Employees and the Company” emphasizes that The competencies of a modern leader can consist of five components:

1. Formal requirements (education, health status, legal grounds, etc.).

2. Knowledge (possession of general and specific knowledge in a special field, business and economics, management, knowledge of a specific market, company regulations, etc.).

3. Skills (the ability to perform actions, make decisions necessary for the effective performance of duties).

4. Settings (worldview, attitudes and attitudes that contribute to the correct performance of duties, for example, the attitude “the customer is always right”).

5. Business and personal qualities (psychological characteristics of personality and character that contribute to the performance of managerial functions).

In this case, the competency model might look like this:

Competency "Planning"

1. Formal requirements: education, mental health, experience in an efficiently operating business structure, formal requirements for suitability for the position, etc.

2. Knowledge: mastery of strategic, tactical and investment planning methods, knowledge of the “Project Management” course, cost analysis, risk assessment, scenario planning, etc., basic time management techniques. Knowledge of the limitations and rarity of resources, including in the enterprise headed. Knowledge of business processes similar to an MBA program.

3. Skills and abilities: skills in drawing up strategic, tactical, investment plans, risk management, self-organization, time management. Good ability to use planning tools in practice (methods of operational resource analysis, SWOT analysis, scenario planning, etc.). Skills in solving strategic and tactical problems. Skills in working with information. Ability to identify and formulate business goals and prioritize. Skills in using applied computer programs.

4. Attitudes: understanding of the need for strategic planning in business, willingness to follow previously set plans and goals, desire to develop the company.

5. Qualities: systematic thinking, analytical abilities, creativity, attentiveness, objectivity of thinking, consistency.

Despite the difference in approaches and the different number of component sections of competence, there are uniform requirements for competence, which should be:

• Exhaustive. The list of competencies should completely cover all important work activities.
• Discrete. A specific competency must relate to a specific activity that can be clearly separated from other activities. If competencies overlap, it will be difficult to accurately evaluate performance.
• Focused. Each competency should be clearly defined and there should be no attempt to cover too much. For example, “technical competence” must be very specific.
• Available. Each competency must be formulated in an accessible way and interpreted in the same way by all managers so that it can be used universally.
• Congruent. Competencies must strengthen the organizational culture and reinforce long-term goals. If competencies seem too abstract, they will not be useful and will not be accepted by managers.
• Modern. The competency system must be updated and must reflect the present and future (predictable) needs of the organization.

Successful management consists of the following types of training:hhard skills and soft skills.

The formation of a top manager as a management specialist begins with the acquisition of skills, which are divided into two groups: hard skills and soft skills (by analogy with hardware and software in computers).Hard skills – this is the “hardware”, those skills that are necessary to perform your job at a high professional level. This is fundamental knowledge about the mechanisms of business functioning, understanding of the organization as an integral system, economics, marketing, finance, as well as production (professional) skills used in direct work. For a long time, it was believed that job performance depended on the level of development of these particular skills. An important role in this is played by an academic diploma, level of intelligence, and the number of certificates for completing specialized courses.

Many managers focus their attention on developing hard skills: technical knowledge and skills. This is due to the fact that domestic managers really lack high-quality knowledge in management and marketing, which has become possible to obtain in our country recently.Hard skills can be developed by receiving additional academic education, in MBA programs and by attending various seminars. Hard skills trainingallows, in a fairly short time, to obtain the necessary knowledge for a manager on business development management, strategic planning, operational activities, transformation modeling and organizational structure. Such programs include many discussions and interactive seminars that allow students to learn how to apply the acquired theoretical knowledge through case studies and role-playing games. As part of hard skills training programs, you can exchange management experience among “your own kind” and learn how this or that problem or task is solved in other companies. Academic degree programs are known to require more time and effort; for example, to gain high-quality knowledge in marketing, it is not enough to attend a two-day seminar; you need to obtain higher or additional education lasting several months.

However, only professional knowledge and hard skills are not enough for successful work. The transition to senior management status is not limited to mastering technical skills alone.In practice, managers often fail to cope with their responsibilities because oflack of experience, and because ofundevelopedsoft skills

A higher level of management requires possession of more complex qualities, skills of interaction with people: the ability to communicate, speak publicly, convince oneself that one is right, manage one’s emotions and the emotions of others, motivate. All this together constitutes soft skills, which, in turn, require a deep personal restructuring from the manager.

The expected work of a manager at the senior management level requires, first of all, diverse and multi-level communications, leadership skills, the ability to form and develop a management team, and make decisions in conditions of uncertainty. The importance of these skills is due to the fact that successful managers spend up to 80% of their time communicating with other people. The higher a person climbs the career ladder, the less important technical skills are and the more important soft skills become.

Feature of the acquisitionsoft skills areWhatRThe development of personal skills often requires significant effort in working on oneself, since it is necessary to change the existing “picture of the world”, long-term habits and patterns of behavior. Many practicing managers need more time to develop new skills and abilities. The existing experience and a large number of developed technologies make it difficult to analyze behavior and find those “growth areas” that can be improved. The birth of a new personality (or new soft skills) is always associated with overcoming oneself and educating oneself. In addition, sometimes the fear of change also gets in the way: if the previous behavior worked, and worked quite successfully for many years, then how will others perceive these changes? That's whyTop managers need to be prepared for the fact that mastering real soft skills can take place after 3–5 months of training. Long-term training may be in demand when it is necessary not only to develop a specific skill, but to move to a new level of management (for example, the company has seriously expanded, competition has sharply increased, business reorganization is needed). In this case, attending single training sessions may be an ineffective waste of time. Such programs are also useful for managers who are on the verge of emotional burnout, when business and work cease to interest and delight. Then obtaining new discoveries and personal growth make it possible to overcome this “managerial crisis.”

What is competence? Everyone puts their own meaning into this concept, but according to Wikipedia, competence is “the ability to apply knowledge and skills, to successfully act on the basis of practical experience in solving various problems.” Too streamlined to be accurately defined. However, this term has other interpretations, and they describe professional competence in much more detail. If we talk about the competence of a leader, it includes a huge number of points. The most important of them is the ability to manage other people. If a leader knows how to manage, then he is already quite competent. But this is absolutely not enough to become a successful manager. The ability to give orders in a commanding voice does not make a person a leader, despite the fact that he nominally is one.

What is competence

If we take a middle manager as an example, it turns out that his competencies largely coincide with the professional skills of higher-ranking managers. However, many similarities can also be found by comparing his competencies and the skills of managers occupying more modest positions in the company structure. What qualities does an experienced leader have, regardless of what position he works in? Both the department manager and the vice president of the firm have many of the same competencies, without which they would never become managers. They are worth taking a closer look at.

Key competencies of a manager

Professionalism– this is extensive experience and a store of universal knowledge that allows a manager to work effectively in a certain area of ​​activity of a company or organization.

Delegation of authority. One of the qualities of a true manager is the ability to delegate part of the work to other people. A good leader knows and can do a lot, but he understands that he cannot waste his time on solving secondary problems. His subordinates can easily handle them. Choosing the right performer who will exactly follow all the manager’s instructions is a very important skill for a successful manager.

Communication skills. A competent leader knows how to communicate with people in the “superior-subordinate” format without slipping into familiarity. The ability to keep your distance and at the same time maintain good and trusting relationships with the team is a skill that is developed over years of hard work.

Achieving your goals. One of the most important competencies of a manager. A manager must be able to turn problems into tasks, be responsible for the result and have complete control over the entire work process. Many inexperienced managers often lose their bearings while doing insignificant things. A good leader always calculates the situation several moves ahead and never loses sight of the main goal.

The core competencies of a manager also include:

• Organization
• Communication skills
• Development of subordinates
• Intellectual level
• Innovation
• Conflict Management
• Forecasting the situation
• Oratory skills
• Efficient allocation of available resources

Manager's competencies

It is customary to distinguish between corporate and managerial competencies. Since the manager works on the company’s staff, he must comply with corporate rules and be as loyal as possible to the organization’s policies. Just like other employees, he must constantly improve his skills, have good relationships with colleagues, be goal-oriented and maintain team spirit.

But along with corporate competencies, the position of leading manager imposes additional obligations on a person. To meet the level of his position, a manager must have the appropriate competencies. If this does not happen, and any manager sooner or later reaches the limit of his capabilities, both intellectual and physical, then the person risks losing his job.

And this happens quite regularly. According to the Peter Principle, in a hierarchical system any individual can rise to the level of his or her incompetence. This means that the manager will move up the career ladder until he takes a position in which he cannot cope with the responsibilities assigned to him. That is, he will turn out to be incompetent.

To prevent this from happening, the manager must constantly work on his skills. The level of competence is increased not only by constant practice - today managers must regularly attend seminars and trainings, where they can learn new approaches to personnel management. Without advanced training, it is very easy to pass the threshold of your own incompetence, since in many companies promotion is closely related to length of service. Thus, the new position may be the last in the work of a poorly prepared manager.

Leaders and managers

It is important for any manager to have a clear understanding of what type of managers he views. There are managers-leaders and managers-managers. You can become successful regardless of your psychotype - it is only important to turn your brightest character traits into tools for effective personnel management.

The disadvantages of leading managers include an overly optimistic vision of the company's future: they are excellent speakers, but their charisma often hinders them, since it is not always possible to advance far on motivation alone - they need long, painstaking work on each stage of the current project. It is difficult for a leader to concentrate on routine work; he is focused on achieving the goal as quickly as possible and is inclined to trust the solution of routine tasks to his subordinates. This approach can sometimes be flawed, as personnel who do not receive clear instructions can make many mistakes.

The manager-manager is focused mainly on work matters - for him, it is much more important to systematically move forward, strictly adhere to deadlines and follow approved instructions. It cannot be said that managers who belong to this type are in any way worse than their fellow leaders. Not at all. It's all about what business approaches the manager uses. He may not be able to speak brightly and figuratively, but he always has other tools at his disposal to motivate staff. A significant salary increase often works better than the most fiery speech.

So it doesn’t matter what type the leader is - if he is competent enough, it will not be difficult for him to cope with all the responsibilities assigned to him. Different managers use different approaches - in business and in the art of managing people there are no clear rules and immutable laws. If the chosen strategy is correct, and the tactics work to achieve intermediate results, then such a leader has all the necessary competencies to rightfully occupy his post.

Many employers invest considerable amounts of money in the development of employees in management positions. But sometimes trainings, seminars, training programs do not bring the desired result. That is why, before developing key ones, it is necessary to conduct a qualitative assessment of the skills and personal qualities of a candidate for a leadership position. A correct assessment will make it possible to develop precisely those qualities that are at a low level, or, conversely, to refuse the chosen candidate.

Professional competencies of a manager - what are necessary?

Before choosing a method for assessing a candidate for a leadership position, you need to decide which key managerial competencies you will assess. Of course, in each company the set of professional competencies of a manager will be different. It will depend on the position you are hiring a candidate for: line manager, top management or project manager, as well as the scope of the company’s activities. For example, strategic and analytical thinking and the ability to manage performance and change will be important skills for senior management. For a line manager - organizational skills, the ability to delegate and set tasks, for a project manager - the ability to clearly divide strategy into tactical tasks and set priorities. By the way, the higher the leadership position, the more personal qualities will influence efficiency. The higher the leadership position, the more carefully you should approach the assessment of the manager’s managerial competencies and personal qualities

Trainings for managers on key employee performance indicators are conducted by Alexey Shirokopoyas, Expert in the Development of Management Competencies. Trainer-consultant. Editor in Chief .

8-926-210-84-19. [email protected]

We determine the level of mastery of key competencies of a manager

In order to understand what key managerial competencies you will need to develop, you need to identify at what level the candidate possesses them. To do this, you need to prescribe criteria for high and low levels of proficiency for each professional competence of a manager, and then evaluate the skills and personal qualities of the applicant according to them in the chosen way. We propose to consider how the key competencies of a manager can manifest themselves using the example of delegation and stress resistance.

Delegation. In management functions, this is a basic skill for a leader. These professional competencies of a manager are essential for the development of subordinates, increasing their effectiveness and significance for the company.

Indicators of a high level of proficiency in key competencies of a manager: the manager is not afraid to give employees the opportunity to take reasonable risks and try different solutions, encourages subordinates to go beyond their comfort zone and work on new tasks, easily delegates their authority to others, supports even if an employee has made a mistake , etc.

Indicators of a low level of proficiency in a manager’s professional competencies: the manager interferes in the execution of a task or allows himself to override employees’ decisions, gives little space for initiative, delegates only those tasks that carry low risks, imposes his opinion, etc.

Speaks: Svetlana Melnikova - Head of the HR Department of INEC (Moscow):

“Effective delegation requires: a clear formulation of the task, vesting the employee with the necessary powers, setting deadlines, monitoring results and always providing feedback. The presence of delegation skills can be determined during the interview with the candidate using interviews on key managerial competencies, business cases or an assessment center. Indicators of ineffective delegation and control will be: lack of understanding by the employee of the task, the task is not completed on time, excessive control of the manager over each stage of the task, the need for the manager to correct the work performed, lack of feedback from the subordinate.”

When assessing the key competencies of a manager, we recommend that you also determine his leadership style. This will help to identify the personal characteristics of the leader’s behavior in the system of superior-subordinate relations. And also take into account previous work experience and the field of activity of the companies in which the applicant worked

Example of a case for assessing delegation skills

Indicators of a high level of proficiency in the key competencies of a manager: the candidate remains calm and shows flexibility in stress of any type, considers stress to be inevitable in the professional sphere and knows how to adapt to it, avoids the influence of stress on his personal life, achieves high quality work, even under pressure.

Indicators of a low level of mastery of professional competencies of a manager: stress unsettles, under conditions of high stress a person becomes disorganized, puts unnecessary pressure on others, refuses to complete priority tasks, any changes in plans or their disruption cause tension and anxiety.

Speaks: Anna Fomicheva - Ph.D., Associate Professor, HR Management Expert (Moscow):

“In my opinion, during the assessment process it is useful to use the “joint” diagnostic work of the HR manager and the candidate himself. This complex includes tests to determine the general orientation of a person, tests for self-esteem, and methods for studying previous experience. So, for example, a candidate has successful startup projects, during the implementation of which he performed several roles at once (generated ideas, formed a team, organized interaction, was a “process owner”, etc.) in conditions of limited resources, deadlines and achieved a successful expected result . It can be assumed that the candidate, to one degree or another, was forced to demonstrate the ability to take responsibility, quickly choose the main thing and concentrate on it, and be stress-resistant. Therefore, in the process of assessing it, it is necessary to concentrate on identifying the degree of motivation and comfort, continue to work with increasing the level of one’s own qualities and developing the managerial key competencies of a leader.”

Examples of projective questions for assessing stress resistance

We choose a method for assessing the managerial professional competencies of a manager and his personal qualities

The first assessment of management skills and personal qualities occurs in the process of studying a resume (for internal candidates - in the process of studying an application for participation in a competition to fill a vacancy). There the candidate reflects what he can and knows. The task of the HR specialist is to identify the degree of mastery of the specified key competencies of the manager. Of course, this cannot be done by reading a resume and even collecting recommendations. Therefore, the second stage of the assessment is an interview with the candidate (be sure to include projective questions), during which he can be offered several practical tasks (solving a case, participating in a role-playing game, etc.). The third stage of assessment is carried out during the probationary period, for example, by observing the work of the manager (based on the results, a scale for assessing behavior is compiled), as well as using assessment activities, for example, a “360 degree” assessment, etc.

Speaks: Anna OVCHINNIKOVA - Head of Recruitment Service at Teleperformance Russia & Ukraine:

“The ideal situation is in which the company has an accepted model of managerial professional competencies of a manager and a scheme for assessing them, as well as the practice of drawing up profiles of managerial positions, indicating the specific qualities necessary for successful work. Both the key competencies of a leader and personal qualities can be determined through a standard biographical interview with a number of small cases from the series “Imagine that you ...”, “What would you do?” or “Describe a real situation in the past in which you showed your creativity.” If the company has sufficient time and resources, and the managerial position belongs to the top echelon, it makes sense to conduct a full assessment of the professional competencies of the manager, which also includes tasks or situations that help identify personal qualities. This approach will significantly reduce the likelihood of hiring errors. Once the assessment and interview have been completed, the results must be analyzed and agreed upon, and then an informed hiring decision must be made based on them.”

Speaks: League Blank - Head of the HR department of the Globus hypermarket (Klimovsk):

“To evaluate applicants for management positions, we use the method “assessment based on the key competencies of a manager” and use standardized job profiles for this, where all the professional competencies of a manager, both professional and personal, are structured. In addition, you can use structured interviews, various cases, and testing. The most complete assessment procedure is assessment, since such an event includes various tests that help identify not only theoretical knowledge, but also behavioral indicators of certain key competencies of a manager. As a rule, during the assessment, participants perform many tasks in a group, where communication skills are especially evident. In addition to various types of expert tests, it is important to take into account the recommendations of immediate superiors, subordinates, and colleagues, using various techniques (for example, “360 degrees”). It is also necessary to analyze the result of work, which can be expressed in economic or qualitative (work with personnel) indicators, which is quite objective.”

When assessing the managerial professional competencies of a manager, also pay attention to previous work experience and the field of activity of the company in which the applicant worked

Please note that cases help to effectively assess personal qualities. You can compose them yourself, the main thing is to clearly state the criteria by which you will evaluate the degree of expression of the candidate’s qualities.

Speaks: Eldar Salakhetdinov - Head of the organizational and personnel department of ITB BANK (Moscow):

“You can assess the personal qualities of a candidate for a leadership position during an interview by asking him projective questions. You can also ask the applicant to solve a previously prepared management case, where he will be asked, as a manager, to make a number of decisions. Then ask for detailed comments on them. It is also appropriate to use the following tool: the applicant is asked to recall several difficult situations from his practice that he successfully resolved, and also to analyze a case when, in his opinion, he did not cope with the situation. Through open questions, it is necessary to find out what helped or hindered the solution of the situation, what qualities he used, what conclusions he made, etc. As a rule, these tools are enough to assess the presence of personal qualities in a candidate for a leadership position.”

Source Business World

The saddest situation in the sales department is when salespeople try to sell everything to everyone, haphazardly selecting customer contacts from the database and trying to tell each of them something about the company’s products. As a rule, there are no targeted (tailored to specific customer segments and needs) materials, and the seller sends by e-mail some kind of universal collection of information, 99% of which is of no interest to anyone. The work will be chaotic, the seller, due to the need to “rack his brains” over every call and letter, has a slow pace of work.

Every seller should have a working sales formula in their hands - relevant to customers, taking into account competitors, requiring simple actions from the seller. This formula can (and often should) change, for example, once a month, but while working with it, the seller’s work looks like a clear conveyor belt, which, due to the uniformity of operations, allows you to hone the seller’s actions and improve his results. It is important to relieve the seller of two needs:

• It’s painful to tense up before every call and think about what to say.
• It’s painful to strain after a call and waste time creating a selection of materials for the client.

Therefore, the first thing a sales department manager needs to be able to do is to constantly invent (or update) the way in which department employees sell - the so-called “sales formula.”

For example, for active telephone sales, the sales formula is:

Who to call (which segment to focus your efforts on, which people in the client’s organization you need to communicate with).

What to say (what questions to ask, what competitive advantages to emphasize or what special offer to voice, how to work with objections).

On what terms to sell (what is the price, for what discounts are given and in what amount, what are the delivery conditions, deferrals, and so on).

And this formula in practice may sound like this: “This month we are calling chemical plants, offering our chemical safety monitoring system. We are communicating with chief engineers, and if that doesn’t work, we are sending letters to general directors. We refer to the experience with the Chelyabinsk Petroleum Products Plant, the Novosibirsk Plastics Plant. We are offering a free trial installation at month in one workshop. Here is a short booklet for chemical plants, and here is a letter template."

To regularly invent (update) a sales formula, a manager, in addition to a good knowledge of the company’s clients, also needs special thinking skills - a creative approach that will allow him to create new solutions that are superior in relevance and efficiency to the solutions of competitors.

Skill #2: Building a Strong Team

It’s trite, but true: alone in the field is not a warrior. We need a team of people who can efficiently implement the sales formula and achieve excellent results. In some ways, a sales department should be like a boiling cauldron—perpetually on the move, trying to achieve more. And team building is an ongoing process consisting of:

Constantly recruiting new people for the team.

Constant filtering of the available team.

Even if there is no current vacancy right now, the selection process must be continuous - firstly, we will always find a job for the best candidates, and secondly, it is important to be fully prepared in case one of the sellers is fired. Let's face it: having a good candidate will allow us to confidently fire a bad salesperson.

So, about dismissal and filtering. What you need to be absolutely prepared for when leading a sales department is that not all salespeople will be successful. And every time one of the sellers does not meet the sales target, we lose money. We are seriously losing money. And the longer this goes on, the greater our losses. For example, one seller is behind in sales by 100,000 per month, then for the quarter it will be 400,000, and for the year 1,200,000. One million two hundred thousand! Time works against us, and time turns on the “counter” for us. Therefore, unfortunately, we cannot afford such a luxury as a “second chance” for the seller, unless, of course, the issue concerns such objective factors as lack of goods in stock and a decrease in consumer demand.

Get rid of unproductive ballast quickly and decisively. Especially if you already have a good replacement candidate.

And in order to find people when selecting people who will really be productive for many years, during the interview you need to make sure that the candidate has two of the most important factors:

Long-term motivation for achievements. Ask the candidate what is important to them in work, what job opportunities they are looking for, how they see themselves in 5-10 years. Persistent, diligent, energetic in their work are those people who have a vivid image of the desired future, large (but realistic) appetites for which they are ready to make serious efforts. Look for people who want a lot and are able to move mountains for it.

Successful experience convincing people similar to your clients. It is not so important whether the candidate has experience in a related field, or even whether he has sales experience at all. It is important that the candidate knows how to convince your clients, and everything else can be “tightened up.” How to understand this?

Use the Star Behavioral Interview Technique:

• Situation— ask the candidate to recall cases when he convinced (sold something) a client of your profile, for example, a middle-aged man, the owner of a small business.
• Task- specify what task was before him - that is, what exactly did he want to convince this person of?
• Action— ask him to tell you how he structured his speech, what arguments he gave, what objections he encountered, and how he responded to them?
• Result- ask how the situation ended - it is important for us to understand how successful the experience was and the candidate understood that the task was completed/failed.

These questions can explore any aspects of the candidate’s practical experience that interest you: working with different types of clients, implementing different tasks (sales, handling claims, collecting accounts receivable) - those that are most important for working in your sales department.

It is important not to give in to the temptation to hire smart, charming boys and girls without experience or motivation who need a warm, quiet place to work. There are not very many people you need on the labor market, but the find will pay off handsomely. Train people's interview skills, learn to reveal their motivation and abilities.

Skill #3: Motivation

If you managed to select people with strong long-term motivation for achievement, then in the future the manager’s first task in working with motivation is to create a good motivating environment, and not spoil anything or lead to demotivation.

The following factors can lead to demotivation:

Unclear priorities, goals and objectives, as well as their frequent reversal. People need clear guidelines in their work to see opportunities to achieve their goals.

Non-transparent bonus system, or non-compliance with the announced bonus rules. This situation leads sellers to a logical conclusion: " It’s useless to try to earn money, they’ll still pay you pennies.”

Unmanageably difficult tasks in the absence of support from the manager - and people give up.

The manager openly shows that he does not believe in his subordinates and is convinced of their narrow-mindedness, mediocrity, and lack of success - only a few are ready to work “despite” this atmosphere and try to prove something, while for the rest this attitude completely discourages enthusiasm.

Lack of feedback to analyze mistakes and successes - in such a situation, people very quickly stop in their professional growth, and the desire to do the job as best as possible is lost.

A permissive attitude towards work on the part of others turns out to be very contagious.

Violation of basic working conditions - delays in payment of wages, an uncomfortable workplace, frequent overtime - cause a reluctance to invest emotionally in work.

It is important for the head of the sales department to learn to lead by avoiding the creation of such factors. And if such factors exist in a team, promptly notice and eliminate them.

In addition, a high level of energy and enthusiasm is very important for the sales department.

And the leader needs to be a kind of “battery” in order to charge his subordinates:

Demonstrate energy and enthusiasm by example.

In the process of management, encourage subordinates, tell them about your faith in their ability to achieve results.

Inspire them to achieve their goals by revealing them as attractive images of the future, filled with meaning. For example, not just “we need to sell 200 units to chemical plants,” but “our goal is for almost every Russian chemical plant to have our modern, brilliant chemical safety control system - then we will be calm about our environment, and let our competitors bring theirs.” systems back to Germany."

Tease their financial and career appetites - show what gigantic opportunities each of them has in this job.

Skill #4: Setting challenging but realistic goals

Oddly enough, one way to awaken the energy in a subordinate is to give him a difficult task. Ambitious people are motivated by such tasks, they feel it as a challenge and work with maximum efficiency.

The task should be as clear and specific as possible, and maintain a tension/realism balance. If the balance is disturbed, there will be no motivational effect: if the task seems unrealistic to the subordinate, then there is no point in straining - “nothing will come of it anyway,” and if the task is ordinary, then it is no longer a challenge, and again, there is no point in straining. Therefore, tasks that need to be “done yesterday” are demotivating and tasks in the spirit of “negotiating with such and such a client” are left indifferent.

When setting a task, it is important to set a high bar, but at the same time, together with your subordinate, immediately outline realistic ways to achieve it, for example: “There is interest in our products from Volgostroy - they are very large and complex. Your task is to agree on the supply of 30 sets of our control systems in the next six months. I think if you tell them about our experience at Severkhim and bring a demonstration sample , that is, there is every chance, especially with your talents."

Skill #5: Prioritization

A motivated, talented team with ambitious goals is already a lot. Now is the moment for the manager of the sales department to demonstrate his organizational talent in order to provide quality support to the work of his subordinates, timely control, encouragement, sort out mistakes, and connect where it is important.

All this requires time management skills, the most important of which is the skill of prioritization. Subordinates negotiate with clients, write commercial proposals, agree on specifications, sign contracts and receive payments, plus there may also be their own work with clients, plus hiring/firing issues, and so on - there are a lot of processes, difficulties can arise in different places, how to arrange priorities? A good navigator in making decisions about a leader’s priorities is the Eisenhower matrix (see attached diagram):

I square - urgent important matters(strongly influence all work results as a whole, tomorrow they will lose meaning). Emergency, "firefighting", force majeure.

Examples of cases:

• Urgent problems and new opportunities for key clients.
• Failures of the entire work system.
• Important innovations that are relevant only today

II square - non-urgent important matters (strongly affect all work results as a whole, but they can also be done tomorrow).

These are “investments” that need to be made today to increase profits tomorrow.

Examples of cases:

• Development, improvement and implementation of the “sales formula”.
• Team development.
• Key account development
• Market research, problem prevention, long-term development

III square - urgent unimportant matters(less influence on the results of work as a whole, tomorrow they will lose meaning).

Simple short matters that need to be resolved today.

Examples of cases:

• Solving problems in the work of subordinates.
• Some meetings, letters, documents, calls, visitors.

IV square - non-urgent unimportant matters(less influence on the results of work as a whole, tomorrow they will not lose their meaning).

Distracting trifles, personally pleasant and interesting things.

Examples of cases:

• Simple tasks at the executive level.
• Distracting little things.

Of course, the first thing a manager takes on is important and urgent matters, square I: urgently submitting a commercial proposal to a large client, urgently going to very important negotiations, urgently resolving a conflict situation with a key client... Too much depends on these matters, and time there's only so much to spare, and you have to do everything right the first time, and often at any cost. In such matters, expended resources and quality of work fade into the background, and management becomes ineffective. If there are a lot of such tasks, then the stress level of the manager (and the subordinates involved in these tasks) increases greatly. Therefore, you need to look for all available opportunities to prevent such cases, debug the system, and reduce future risks. However, there is always time for all this.

What happens to a leader's time? After solving the questions of the first square, the manager has time left and a dilemma arises:

Take action to prevent such cases in the future, improve the work system, train people to better cope with risky situations and prevent “fires” (and this is all square II).

Or do those things that themselves “knock” on the door - requests from subordinates, filling out documents, answering letters and calls - as a rule, such things require significantly less intellectual effort and belong to square III.

One of the most important skills of a leader is not just to react to the flow of incoming events, but to independently set priorities, by an effort of will switching to more important things first, and only then to more urgent, small ones that are “knocking on the door.” Then it will be possible to reduce the number of rush jobs in the first square and achieve greater results in the future.

Skill #6: Troubleshooting

Trying to achieve high sales results, a manager sometimes does the work for a subordinate: corrects commercial proposals, calls his clients, goes to price negotiations. This approach creates things in the III-IV square of the Eisenhower matrix, forcing the manager to be scattered about trifles instead of focusing on the main thing - developing subordinates so that they can effectively solve complex situations themselves.

One of the most powerful tools for developing subordinates is feedback - discussion of the work done to improve the efficiency of work in the future.

In addition to its developmental effect, feedback conversations can have a strong motivational effect. To receive all these benefits, the feedback must be:

Specific - describes a specific example of behavior that depends on the person; does not contain sweeping generalizations.

Timely - refers to a recent situation that is still fresh in the minds of you and the feedback subordinate.

Constructive - suggests behavior options that you would like to see in the future.

With consequences - indicates the consequences of this behavior: how it affects you, others, and the work process.

Developmental - aimed at helping in development, and not at destroying self-esteem.

Bad example: "You are not able to convince the client at all", good example: " I think the client didn't buy because you told the client that our setup was "simply more profitable",but did not explain that this is because our installation requires maintenance half as often as its analogues, and costs 40% less to maintain.”

Skill #7: Developmental Conversation

We all sometimes encounter this situation: a subordinate says that he has encountered a problem and does not know how to solve it. And we don’t know either until we figure it out. And so we spend our time trying to figure out the problem ourselves and tell the subordinate how to solve it. Is there any other way to get out of these situations without wasting our time solving problems in the work of a subordinate that arise again, and again, and again?

One of the saving options is developmental conversation. The point is that we do not rush to solve a problem for a subordinate (III-IV squares), but help him reach a solution himself (team development, II square). To do this, in a conversation you need to go through the following steps of the Grow coaching model:

Goal: "What do we want to get?"

Help the subordinate articulate his goal in this situation.

Reality: "What's stopping you? What obstacles stand in the way? What objections does the client have?"

Help the subordinate articulate existing and possible obstacles.

Options: "What can be done about the obstacles? What arguments can be made? What other options are there?"

Using questions (without suggesting a solution), help your subordinate come up with several options for solving the situation and choose the best one.

Wrap-up: Make an action plan.

The purpose of such a conversation— teach the subordinate to solve similar problems independently in the future. Such conversations can be held at different moments - when setting a difficult task, when a subordinate addresses a problem, when discussing work already done - as an advanced version of feedback.

By systematically using developmental conversation when solving problems of subordinates, the head of the sales department is not just engaged in “plugging holes”, but is effectively developing the team, laying a strong foundation for future high results.

The head of the sales department is a specialist whose tasks include organizing the sales of services or goods. He is responsible for the work of the department as a whole - monitors delivery times, ensures implementation of the sales plan, manages and trains managers, communicates with partners and suppliers, and participates in responsible negotiations. A successful sales leader can quickly rise to executive, finance or general manager positions.

Places of work

The position of head of the sales department is in demand in many organizations involved in production, purchase and sale or provision of services.

History of the profession

By the beginning of the 20th century, trade became a separate line of business - a system of wholesale centers was formed, the global transport industry developed, and large retail chains appeared. It was during this period that the demand for trade professionals—for sales managers—increased. It was also necessary to control the functions of managers and monitor the implementation of assigned tasks. This is how the profession of head of the sales department arose.

Responsibilities of the Head of Sales Department

The main job responsibilities of the head of the sales department are as follows:

• sales department management;
• planning the work of the department (ideology, goals, objectives, motivation);
• selection, adaptation and training of employees;
• searching and attracting clients;
• drawing up reports;
• management, maintenance and development of the client base.

Sometimes the functions of the head of the sales department include:

• creation of motivational programs;
• market analysis and collection of customer information;
• representing the company at conferences and demonstration events.

Requirements for the head of the sales department

Here is an approximate list of basic requirements for the head of the sales department:

• At least 1 year of management experience (preferably in sales);
• active sales experience;
• Experience in recruiting managers of various profiles;
• PC knowledge.

Fluency in English and a car are often required.

Sample resume for head of sales department

How to become a head of sales department

To become a head of the sales department, you will need a higher education (preferably in the field of marketing or management). In this case, any education in the field of activity of the employing company is suitable.

Also, in order to cope well with a position, you need a number of specific skills - the ability to negotiate, organize a work team and many other skills. The easiest way to acquire them is by working as a sales manager or managing sales representatives, promoters, salespeople or other specialists in the field of advertising and trade.

Good department heads develop from successful sales managers.

Salary of the head of the sales department

The salary of the head of the sales department, as a rule, is piecework and depends on the performance of the department. Income can range from 40 to 150 thousand rubles per month, not taking into account bonus payments. The average salary of the head of the sales department is approximately 60 thousand rubles per month.