Last week Mortgage Solutions polled brokers on their own management skills, with 48.3% saying they are good managers, 21.7% think they are average, whilst 11.7% didn’t know if they were good or bad.

Almost 18.3% of brokers believe they would probably need more training.

Advisers told Mortgage Solutions different ways in which a manager can be good or bad.

Always make time to learn

Shaun Church, director at Private Finance, pointed out the importance of always being willing to learn in order to grow within the team.

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He said: “You always need more training on the job, even when you do not realise it. Everybody learns differently, but I reckon that being on top of market changes is an effective training.”

 

Maintaining high standards

Alex Smith, mortgage adviser at Capricorn Financial Consultancy, said: “A good manager must have high standards and meet his own expectations. From my point of view, as I also deal with clients, it is very important being punctual, well dressed, organised, offering clients high level services.

“Managers are sometimes back office, but I reckon that a good manager needs to be upfront.

“You see a bad manager from negative results, when he or she is not able to maintain the standards.

“You learn from everyone and this helps to improve your job. Reading other people’s biography is a good way to learn, to see how they achieve their goals and being able to do the same.”

 

Good managers earn their stripes

Jonathan Clark, mortgage partner at Chadney Bulgin, said: “Asking a manager if they do a good job is it a bit like asking someone if they’re a good driver – most people genuinely believe they are better than they really are.

“Like many other industries, in the past we have often simply promoted the best sales people into managerial roles with mixed results – as any football fan will know, good players do not always make good managers.

“In my experience, the best managers tend to have previously worked in large, structured companies where proper management training was readily available, and it always helps if managers have previously ‘earned their stripes’ by having performed a sales role similar to those current being undertaken by those staff being managed.”

 

Employees decide whether you are a good or bad manager

David Hollingworth, director at L&C Mortgages, said it is all about people’s perception: “A manager can be good for someone and bad for someone else. However, to improve people around you is the real measure of how good a manager you are.

“It is essential to be focused on developing the team’s skills and keep them motivated. Someone who is not willing to listen and help develop the team is not a good manager.”