Influencing Work Performance:The Development of Diagnostic Skills

Influencing the work behaviour of subordinates is an essential part of a manager's job. It requires skill, and can be seen as a basic leadership activity. However, appropriate influence depends on more than interacting skilfully with subordinates. As Schein states, to deal with the complexities of human behaviour, “the successful manager must be a good diagnostician and must value a spirit of enquiry”. That is, a manager in attempting to remedy some performance problem needs to be able to identify the probable causes of the problem and the relevant actions required for its solution. In order to achieve successful solutions, valid causes of the problem behaviour need to be found, followed by appropriate remedial actions. This requires an understanding of the range of factors which can influence work behaviour.