A good boss in 48h.!

The Organization is wasting millions of dollars in a vain attempt to turn each and every Professional into the perfect manager. The results are dismal. After a series of “retreats” our would-be managers are raring to go. For about a week they generally make an effort to put into practice what they’ve learned during a crash course on: “How to become a good boss in 48 hours”. They set up working groups, engage in some brainstorming and then … nothing. They return to their old ways.

So what’s the solution? First of all, better recruitment. If the UN needs a manager to lead a department, the Organization should not hire an economist, a diplomat or a former minister. It needs to hire a manager. Secondly, the UN must be the only large employer in the psychological tests. Such tests would certainly help to recruit better candidates for high-level positions. Thirdly, the UN should not try to transform – as the new reform envisages – good technicians into bad technocrats. It is not true that the virtues of mobility can turn an e-business expert into a head of division. Finally, if training is required, it must be serious and not solely designed to subsidize some privileged management consultants or hotelkeepers during the off-season. You don’t become a manager by spending three days in a hotel with a kind Organizer. Some people spend years studying to become good managers. If the Organization wants to make the most of its staff, it needs to send potential highfliers to university for several months – only then can we world not to make its candidates take

Le rédacteur en chef, Jean Michel Jakobowicz.