Investing in Your Managers Is Always The Smartest Move
What makes the biggest difference between engaged, high-performing, loyal teams in recruitment - compared to disgruntled, underperforming, vanishing employees?
Hint: it’s not “the culture” or “the people” as a gestalt.? Nor is it the CEO (sorry to disappoint the CEOs in my network).
It’s investing in your managers. Those ‘first line’ managers, that your consultants report into directly.
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What was your favourite subject at school?? The one where it was easiest to pay attention and to do your best work.? What was the teacher like?? Would you have enjoyed that subject as much if you’d had an uninspiring teacher?? Managers are the teachers of the adult world.? Yet they can be criminally underappreciated in the recruitment industry.
The terrifying importance of managers – in numbers
According to Gallup, 50% of respondents have quit a job “to get away from their manager”.? People who feel unrecognised by their manager are 3x more likely to quit in the next year.? Conversely, praise for good work boosts productivity and revenue by 10-20%.
Harvard Business Review reports that teams that get more praise from their managers consistently score higher on financial performance, 360-degree feedback, and customer satisfaction.? Yet up to? 69% of managers can be uncomfortable in communicating effectively with their teams.
The massive ROI of training your managers
Good managers act as both coaches and cheerleaders, educating and inspiring their teams. They can spot when morale is slipping and find ways to boost it. But this doesn’t happen by accident. If you’re not investing in the right training for your managers, they’re probably in the 69% who are scared to communicate.
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Managers also provide structure for team members.? This is crucial in recruitment, where a structured workday makes it easier for consultants to perform best. However, there’s structure and there's structure...? Untrained managers will box employees in with rules and schedules that make it harder – and when that happens, people leave.
Then there’s the question of discipline.? Trained, confident managers can step in and handle an issue promptly without causing drama – without waiting until it becomes a crisis. The rest tend to ignore it and hope it goes away. (It does go away - when the employee becomes one of the 50% who quit to get away from their manager).
If you hire a manager who’s already experienced, don’t make the mistake of thinking they don’t need further training. High flyers want to develop, not stagnate.? Offering them continuous professional development will not only turn a good manager into a truly great one – it’ll also make that great manager more likely to stay.
More ways of investing in your managers
What else do your managers need?? There are as many answers as there are managers. It’s on you to get to know your managers and understand what motivates them.? However, there are a few common themes:
The best investment in the current economy is to invest in your managers.? Investing time and effort - as well as money - is the best thing you can do for your recruitment business.
Talent Lift are senior level recruitment to recruitment specialists.? Placing recruitment managers, leaders and professionals into some of the best firms in the industry.