Ask the expert: Many ways to prove your point

Q: How can you deal with a boss who won't listen?

I am a branch office manager of a financial services company and am having difficulty with my newly appointed immediate superior, who believes our office is not producing adequate results.

Our semi-rural territory has mixed demographics, and certainly not the high average income of middle-class Auckland suburbs. Yet, somehow, she expects us to achieve similar results.

When she has visited the office, I have offered to take her out on the road with me to show her something of our territory, but she has declined, saying it is irrelevant.

Other branch managers have spoken up for my team, saying they believe we are achieving good results for our territory, yet nothing moves her.

I have also received feedback from some that she has said to them in private - not realising they are friendly with me - that I am lazy and not showing any team leadership.

How can I make her see that we are performing well and her expectations are unrealistic?

A: Dr MARIE WILSON is associate professor of management at the University of Auckland, research director of the ICEHOUSE business accelerator and a veteran of 20 years in corporate management and small business.

Any manager who discusses the performance of subordinates with other subordinates is a poor team leader themselves. This breeds distrust and the sort of second-hand comments that you are receiving.

It is also common, but again not good practice, for supervisors to attribute performance issues just to the employee, without acknowledging that performance is a product of both the environment and the person's ability and effort.

That said, there are a number of things that you can do. First, get the facts. While it may not be fair to compare you with Auckland suburbs, you can't be the only non-Auckland branch.

How do other branches in rural areas compare to their urban and suburban counterparts? If your organisation has such information readily available to all, then great; if not, you may have to work with peers to gather it.

If what you've said is true, then there should be a clear pattern elsewhere in the company that supports your point.

You can also gather data about the pattern in your own patch: are you constantly getting better?

Have key indicators for performance in your area been keeping track with company directions? If so, bring these to your new boss' attention as well.

But what if the data doesn't support you? Or your manager isn't swayed by the facts?

You can always ask for feedback from her, asking for specific things that you have done that she has observed, and agreeing to changes that you'll make, or at least try, to demonstrate that you are just as concerned about performance as she is.

Response to Ask the Expert, July 27

Your answer in relation to the licensing/registration of immigration consultants could be seen as a little misleading.

There is no registration scheme in New Zealand for immigration consultants.

However, the last minister (Lianne Dalziel) was looking into this.

There are at least two voluntary organisations that represent the industry - the New Zealand Association for Migration and Investment and the New Zealand Immigration Institute.

The first is open to anyone who applies and passes the entrance requirements. The second is by invitation only. The New Zealand Immigration Service, being a government department, is not able to comment.

The New Zealand Association for Migration and Investment would be pleased to help in relation to the question of registration.

Being a member of the association also has benefits in terms of preferential processing arrangements and the likes.

For information contact:

The Secretary, NZAMI, PO Box 518, Tauranga

kdowns@maxnet.co.nz

ph (07) 578-1883.

Jo Rose-Duval

Solicitor, Davenports City Law, Director of NZAMI.

* Send your questions to: julie_middleton@nzherald.co.nz