The Rise of the Technocrats in the New Era of Work

A quick look into the Oxford dictionary describes Technocrats as – “An exponent or advocacy of technocracy – A member of a technically skilled elite”.?In the new era of work, there seems to be a huge clamour for technocrats – “Those who can simply get the job done, those with the technical know-how, the technically skilled ones”. CEOs and key organisational decision-makers scream for results… rightfully so. They want those who get on the job and deliver results quickly- ?People like Fola.

In company XYZ (Names have been changed), Fola has been promoted three times in two years, because he is doing excellently well with his numbers. The peck for him has been, hitting the number metrics and getting promoted, but the flip side is, with the promotion comes higher responsibilities which include managing larger teams and other complex managerial challenges. Unfortunately, Fola is not able to hold it together on that side, the attrition rate from his team alone accounts for almost 40% of the entire organisation.?

Nkem also struggled so much with Haruna, who seems to be technically sound, but has refused to match up with the requirements of leadership. Haruna couldn’t hold his team together, take the bull by the horn or break the ice of absorbing the roles that come with managing others. Nkem eventually had to let Haruna go, after years of underperformance from his team. The same team, under new leadership, has become almost unstoppable. Haruna hit the ceiling and couldn’t transition to meet the requirement of his new role despite his grounded technical capabilities.

Cases like Haruna and Fola’s are on the rise these days. A lot of workplace entrants and budding executives have been so entrenched in the ideology that only the technical’s count and they focus on that bit, yet from another side of the mouth, the management claims they want all-rounded leaders. Interestingly, the advent of virtual work, hybrid work does not take away the fact that managerial skills have to be actively developed alongside the technical skills and in fact be accelerated for today’s volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous business environment.

The management skills pyramid by Kammy Haynes offers some insights on what is going on, the management skills pyramid as shown below offers guidance on where, when, and how one goes about developing into a successful leader, the pyramid?shows the skills a manager must master to succeed, at each level of the pyramid and likely proportions.

Let’s briefly review these skills

1.???Technical Skills

Technical skills involve skills that give the managers the ability and the knowledge to use a variety of techniques to achieve their objectives. These skills not only involve operating machines and software, production tools, and pieces of equipment but also the skills needed to boost sales, design different types of products and services, and market the services and the products.

2. Human or Interpersonal Skills

The human or the interpersonal skills are the skills that present the managers’ ability to interact, work or relate effectively with people. These skills enable the managers to make use of human potential in the company and motivate the employees for better results.

3. ?Conceptual Skills

These involve the skills managers present in terms of the knowledge and ability for abstract thinking and formulating ideas. The manager is able to see an entire concept, analyze and diagnose a problem, and find creative solutions. This helps the manager to effectively predict hurdles their department or the business as a whole may face.

However with the obsessive focus on the technical skills over the years, the cracks are beginning to show, and gradually a lot of CEOs and top organisational leaders are realising the increasing imbalance between the technical competence of their workforce and the behavioural competence. A lot of organisations especially with a large workforce of Millennial and GENZ are now realising that despite the huge success of technical skills and result orientation of their workforce, their fast-paced workforce is struggling to lead themselves effectively, manage their teams effectively and these gaps are significantly taking a toll on organisational performance and effectiveness.?- The Leaders’ New Dilemma

With this current reality, the Management skill pyramid is beginning to look more like the image below, the deployment of high technical skills at the expense of developing human and interpersonal skills is racking a huge burden on organisations.?

The fast ascending executives are struggling with the transition from roles demands, they struggle to understand the transition from heavy reliance on technical skills to human and interpersonal skills, which is a huge requirement for their higher positions.?Talent managers are complaining about the huge interpersonal relationship skills lacuna, basic skills such as communication, business writing, logical thinking, and professionalism seem to be amiss.

A recent conversation with Mrs Ngozi (Not her real name) who?runs a consultancy business with over a hundred employees and a handful of senior managers narrated how a few days after a closed-door meeting with her senior management team discovered that information privy only to the senior management present at the high-level meeting leaked within the entire organisation. This leak had dire consequences on the stability of the entire workforce, it wasn’t the first time this has happened,?this time, however, a full-scale investigation was launched and it was discovered a member of her young senior management team didn’t know that information discussed at that level was confidential. Mrs Ngozi is still counting her losses and cannot believe anyone needed to be taught to keep their mouth shut.

With the quick ascent into managerial roles and accelerated growth of new leaders, organisations also have to accelerate the mechanisms for developing the leadership competence of their executives equally as their pace of incremental responsibilities. Exposure to leadership acceleration interventions which are currently introduced rather late and in most cases at the point of crisis should be progressively integrated at all touchpoints of the executives' journey. Leadership should be expressed as a process and not just a position for attainment.

Developing as a manager requires ongoing, personal commitment to mastering new skills and behaviours through active unlearning, learning, relearning?and practical experience for personal and organisational growth.