Your adaptability is costing you a lot!
In many SMEs, frontline managers—supervisors, foremen, team leaders, directors—have never really been equipped to manage. They were appointed for their technical skills, loyalty, or seniority. And since then, they’ve been figuring it out. By instinct. Through trial and error.
They improvise.
And in the meantime, the executives are wondering:
“Why is the team going in circles despite our efforts? Why isn’t it taking off?”
Often, the answer is right there, in plain sight: your managers are improvising every day. And since everyone has gotten used to it, no one notices anymore.
It’s like the noise of a kitchen range hood: at first, you notice it. Then, you get used to it. Until the day you turn it off… and realize just how much it was ruining the atmosphere.
These costs hidden by your performance
- 37% of employees resign because of their direct manager.
- Replacing a key employee who leaves costs between 0.5 and 2 times their annual salary.
- An ill-equipped manager wastes 5 to 18 hours per week solving problems they could have avoided… or passing them up the chain (meaning to you).
- And every mistake, every delay, every non-decision… ends up costing a great deal.
Improvisation as a management method: really?
Yes, learning on the job is part of the “game.” But when improvisation becomes the only method for learning to manage people, you’re the one paying the price. And so are your employees. And your clients.
Here’s what actually happens:
- A manager waits too long before stepping in: the atmosphere deteriorates.
- A director multiplies unnecessary meetings: the team disengages.
- A supervisor avoids difficult conversations: tensions escalate.
- A team leader tolerates the unacceptable out of a lack of courage; your best employee leaves.
It’s not laziness. It’s a lack of benchmarks, tools, and management skills. And it’s costing you a fortune, week after week.
Some executives still think that training their managers is a luxury, an expense. In reality, it’s improvisation that’s costly. And the longer it lasts, the more we adapt to it and the more invisible it becomes.
Quebec SME leaders: execution is slowing down your vision
At Azimuth Leadership, we’ve been working with Quebec SMEs for 25 years. And what we’ve observed is that the companies that have chosen to professionalize their frontline management make giant leaps in profitability, productivity, and customer satisfaction.
A well-equipped manager:
- Gives clear instructions, not vague intentions;
- Steps in at the right time, with courage and without dramatizing;
- Leads meetings with impact, not just to fill the agenda;
- And above all, creates an environment where responsibility is shared.
Do all your managers need to be trained?
Not necessarily. But those who manage people, yes. Otherwise, they learn on the job by improvising. And improvisation eats away at your organization from the inside. You have a vision to ensure the sustainability of your business, and it’s execution that brings that vision to life. That execution relies on the dozens of small, well-made decisions made each day by your frontline managers. These leaders need help—your help.
At my conference at Stratégies PME, on November 11 and 12, 2025, at the Palais des congrès de Montréal, I will present a simple and effective framework to:
- Identify the signs of improvisation in your management;
- Concretely estimate the costs it causes you—in money, energy, and credibility;
- Initiate a professionalization process that respects your reality… without becoming bureaucratic, and above all;
- Avoid the classic pitfalls when choosing a partner for developing the management skills of your frontline managers.
This conference is for you, Quebec SME leaders, and will be a unique opportunity to put words—and numbers—to what constitutes your silent losses, but above all, to obtain credible and concrete ways to quickly and sustainably increase your company’s profitability.
Michel St-Martin
Azimuth Leadership
Top Expert PME 2023, 2024, 2025
Michel St-Martin founder ofAzimuth Leadership, a Quebec firm specializing in developing the leadership of frontline managers. For 25 years, it has supported Quebec SMEs in professionalizing their management. It has received the distinction Top PME Expert three years in a row (2022, 2023, and 2024) for the quality and relevance of its conferences delivered at Stratégies PME.
