The Wall Street Journal suggested there could be a single fix for many of the big problems that companies experience – hiring better middle managers
They based this on a Gallup study that found a company’s productivity depended on the quality of these crucial leaders – managers don’t just influence results, they explain a full 70% of the variance — something Gallup called “the single most profound, distinct and clarifying finding” in their 80-year history
Quint Studer, founder of his eponymous Community Institute, says: “Great middle managers are the key to creating great companies”
He goes on to say: “The irony is middle managers often have the smallest training budget of any group in the organisation – given their level of responsibility, their impact on organisational performance and their facing pressure from all sides (bosses, employees and customers) this makes no sense”
Hence, it’s important to hire and promote the right people for these critical positions, and to train them well
To do this, one first needs to understand exactly why middle managers are so important
Quint suggests the following reasons:
- Managers control the culture of the company – they model the habits and patterns of behaviour expected of all employees and ensure others live up to them as well
- They’re key to employee engagement for they determine how employees feel about their jobs – “People don’t quit the company, they quit their boss”
- They know where performance problems are and who’s doing well
- They have a huge impact on attracting as well as retaining talent
- They’re responsible for bringing out the best in people – they need to inspire and nurture creativity, innovation and teamwork
- They’re on the front line with daily processes so should know where and how things can be improved
- They manage a multitude of tasks and projects and control whether they get done efficiently or not
- They make change happen by moving people through the various stages
- They determine what gets reported to senior management
In short, middle managers have hugely important and difficult jobs
Hence, all organisations should make sure they receive the resources and training they need to do them well
Sadly, at present, few organisations regularly review existing skill sets of their managers and the development needed – so it’s little wonder most employees rate their current managers as ‘bad’