Managers are now more likely than ever to be looking for a new job. Find out why and what you can do.
If your organisation is anything like ours, both what we’re trying to achieve as well as how we’re going about it has fundamentally changed. We’re all keen to drive employee engagement, especially since COVID. But what about our managers – have they been forgotten?
Managers are an important link between leadership and the team and need a foot firmly in both camps, but often find themselves caught between the needs of both. They’re often expected to produce more work to higher quality standards and with new teams, often with less money. Add flexible and remote working into the mix and we have a melting pot of manager challenges, including employee wellbeing as well as managing performance among others.
All of this is a recipe for manager burnout.
How can we help?
- Communication is the lifeblood of any successful organisation. Top down communication from senior leaders to managers is critical – where is the organisation going? what are its priorities? what policies are changing? Getting your managers involved in decisions will motivate and engage them too.
- Coaching provides a fantastic opportunity to identify a manager’s specific issues and help successfully tackle them 1:1. The confidential environment helps managers to open up without fear of judgement and challenges them to take timely action. If you don’t have other managers within the organisation who are capable, get external support from experienced coaches with management experience.
- Training and development for managers in performance management and employee engagement techniques is woefully under-prioritised. A recent Gallup poll suggests just 48% of managers feel they have the skills needed to be exceptional at their job. Managers on our courses often say things like ‘I wish I’d known this years ago, it would have made my life so much easier!’. Let’s get them ahead of the curve.
Managers need to feel that their own team supports them. When a team feels psychologically safe and truly shares accountability for their success, managers can spend more time empowering their team rather than constantly putting out fires or doing the work themselves. We’re thinking of designing courses in ‘How to be a Great Team Player’ and I’m intrigued as to whether you think they would fly…
