Urgent matters
ESPECIALLY for one who never agreed to hard interviews (we want to talk directly to the people we know) or debates (we don’t like to disagree), the topics for discussion or needed attention could be selective. Once in charge, urgent matters can no longer be selective. Priorities are dictated by events and are no longer controllable.
One difference, for example, between staff and line functions deals with managing the “in-box.” These urgent issues that pile up for resolution and decision are not always planned for and the decision time required is dictated by events — Sir, the staff just walked out and are picketing outside.
The CEO may have his job description for what he is responsible for, but his value is determined by how he deals with the urgent matters on his desk: the irate customer, the threat from competition, or the failure of a product’s promise.
Staff positions (now called support services) generally pick the issues they will address and prioritize for the day. Their to-do list is largely self-determined — this month we will be looking at our supply chain efficiency. Of course, the line managers may also pull them in when a crisis arises. But support staff are always in the background — Sir, stick to the message.
This difference in managing the in-box is also found in government positions, with certain cabinet posts being mainly staff or line.
Staff positions deal with analysis, policy directions, and searching for best practices, often requiring some trips abroad to attend conferences or short seminars on transparency. Look at long-term challenges — we are studying the effects of climate change on food security.
While all cabinet portfolios have both staff and line components, most have a dominant dose of one or the other. NEDA, CHED*, and Budget and Management, for example, are mostly support functions dealing with long-term policies over their constituencies. They monitor the macro picture to guide other cabinet members, making pronouncements on budget surpluses and underspending in infrastructure or reporting on growth rates of GDP.
Transportation, Finance, Foreign Affairs, Local Government, Defense, and Public Works are mostly line units and implementors. They are considered successful when delivering projects on time and within budget.
Staff functions require skills related to analysis, the long-term view, and a fine sense of history and the interconnectedness of different variables, the ideal profile for such jobs is laid-back, cerebral, and research-oriented. Thus, shortlists for staff jobs tend to be from academe and think tanks rather than corporate management. For the line jobs, it is managers of large organizations that make the list of possibilities.
Not getting the fit of job to skills set can result in negative outputs. The academic and analytical individual thrust into a fast-moving line job can be overly cautious and too studied in his approach. He is dismissed as someone with “analysis-paralysis.” (We have to subject this to a Venn Diagram.)
On the other hand, matching an operational hands-on manager in a policy-setting position has him coming out as impulsive in his policy pronouncements. And his critics are bound to be academic types who now populate the talking heads on TV talk shows — he exhibits a superficial understanding of economics and fails to grasp the effects of his policy recommendations.
The mismatch between talent and job requirements can be unduly exaggerated with the media coverage of government by armchair analysts. Thus, while an ill-suited appointment in private corporations is bad enough, his bumbling is limited to a small group. The political counterpart is publicly pilloried for his failings and given a tag that haunts him permanently. A “teka, teka” (wait, wait) attribute of a staff type when heading a line cabinet position is bound to chase the unfortunate appointee.
Still, in real life, all jobs have analytical as well as hands-on implementation aspects. The wedding planner draws up the “big picture” and theme of the event (upbeat, hard rock, and contemporary) as well as the invitations and RSVP follow-ups, catering, video coverage, seating of guests, and souvenir gifts.
The fit between talent and job requirements, or “horses for courses,” is critical. Changing the company mission to fit the existing talents at hand is called “courses for horses.” Unfortunately, in government, the courses are set, so the horses must run them.
In the end, the most important skill in government is communications and the willingness to engage the critics without shutting them down — next question, please.
* National Economic and Development Authority and Commission on Higher Education
Tony Samson is chairman and CEO of TOUCH xda
