Despite the very important role that managers play in the business world, they remain undervalued and poorly trained. A new study by Root, Inc. and Kelton Research, America’s Workforce: A Revealing Study of Corporate America’s Most Neglected Employee, dives into this very topic.
Managers Aren’t Trained to Impact the Bottom Line
The new study, which surveyed more than 200 training executives, proves that many organizations are failing to realize the impact managers have—or can have—on the bottom line. Almost one-third (32 percent) surveyed believe their company doesn’t see managers as critical to business performance. More surprisingly, a full 69 percent of respondents say their leadership doesn’t see an extremely strong link between effective manager training and business performance.
Managers are not looked on as critical to organizational success. Therefore, talent development leaders have difficulty securing funding dollars for manager training programs. In fact, the study reports that38 percent of those involved in manager development claim that this is an area where their employers are not willing to invest. In addition, 65 percent struggle to get the money they need for manager training programs.
Without senior leadership buy-in, talent development leaders aren’t able to prioritize manager development and are unsatisfied with their programs today. The study found:
- more than three in five people (62 percent) involved in manager training development admit they are unsatisfied with the state of their initiatives
- many leaders feel that the manager development they have in place today is static instead of dynamic (44 percent), not comprehensive (44 percent), and simply outdated (40 percent)
- more than half of organizations (59 percent) don’t tailor manager training to the areas of the business that need the most attention.
Breaking the Cycle
The biggest opportunity to address this manager malaise is a simple but critical mind-set shift. We must stop looking at managers as process lords and start looking at them as the strategic agents they really are. Here are some tips to help organizations get there:
Issue #1: Process Trumps People: A leader or manager development program that focuses exclusively on job-specific skills and processes misses the mark. While these are definitely skills that competent managers need to understand, they don’t address the other intangible aspect of a manager’s job—the people skills. America’s Workforce reveals that less than half of manager trainings are focusing on building true leadership skills such as team management (46 percent), coaching (35 percent), or delegation capabilities (25 percent).
Just because an employee has technical expertise does not mean they will excel as people leaders. Make sure that your manager development strategy solves for this need. Systems, processes and functional training are important, but should be complemented with the right mix of leadership skills training to create strategic managers.
Issue #2: “Off” Course Curriculum. Conflict Resolution. Communication. Coaching. Building Trust. Team Building. Delegation. The list goes on. Often, organizations believe the bigger the course list for managers, the better. The problem is that while these are essential skill areas for managers to master, the corporate university approach can feel like a scavenger hunt for managers.
Building trust, setting expectations, providing feedback, coaching and the like are layered in real-life interactions. Managers need to know how to move seamlessly between these skills to be effective people leaders. Therefore manager development training should prepare leaders for this reality by threading these skills together in a single, foundational program rather than offering them as discrete, stand alone training courses.
Issue #3: Failure to Engage. Perhaps the biggest opportunity left on the table when developing managers is failing to teach them how to engage and inspire their team in the business. You can have great relationships, coach like a champion, and set crystal clear goals. But leaders who fail to engage their teams in the business first will miss the mark every time.
Managers touch all of your employees every day and have a unique opportunity to inspire and focus them to execute on the business strategy. It follows that managers must clearly understand the fundamentals of the business strategy and how they and their teams contribute, so they are set up to drive results.
Pitfall #4: Failure to Follow Through. Typically, sustainment isn’t a strong priority or proves to be a major challenge for most organizations. The America’s Workforce study tells us that 40 percent of respondents agree that a top obstacle in sustaining manager development programs is prioritization of short-term needs over long-term planning. A mere 18 percent of people responsible for manager training strongly feel that they’ve been successful at sustainment, and 67 percent don’t have strong faith that sustainment of manager training is even possible in their organization.
But sustainment plans must be integrated into all training in order to hold managers accountable—to ensure managers apply the new knowledge for the long term. Without sustainment, organizations are not maximizing the money and time spent on training programs, and managers aren’t making true commitments to incorporating new insights and skills into their everyday work.
To learn more, download America’s Workforce: A Revealing Study of Corporate America’s Most Neglected Employee.
