The management skills gap
Hello there ??,
This week we’re looking at: The management skills gap?
In today's edition:
The new age of management
“The demands of today’s working environment have left managers completely out of their depth,” says Gartner.
Middle managers in large companies reported the worst work-life balance in a 2022 Future Forum survey. And middle managers historically rank among the least happy in the workforce.?
With the rise of hybrid work models and a growing skills chasm, managers aren’t just “pushing pencils”. Or whatever the digital equivalent is, aimlessly scrolling on LinkedIn? (Err, hello.) They're trying to hold everything together.?
The modern manager is stuck in the middle and – frankly – exhausted. S/he must walk a ceaseless tightrope between leadership and employee expectations.
The good thing? HR knows this. In 2023, enhancing leader effectiveness was cited as the top priority for HR. But what exactly does this entail? And what does this mean for the wider company??
The management skills chasm ???
Be it 2014 or 2024, management has always demanded a unique set of skills.
The constant? These skills must continually evolve, adjusting to the demands of the times.?
And yet a glaring oversight persists in the corridors of power regarding the essential nature of management skills.
Less than a third of UK MPs consider enhancing management and leadership in public services, businesses, and other sectors a top government concern for the coming year, Ann Francke, Chief Executive of the CMI, sees it differently.?
She warns that for the past two decades, the need for skilled managers has been “dangerously overlooked”.?
Such disregard is particularly concerning given the recent high-profile crises faced by UK institutions like the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) and the NHS. Meanwhile, across the Atlantic, the US's National Association of Realtors – a nonprofit governing access to nearly every home listing?– is grappling with allegations of a toxic organisational culture.
According to Target Jobs, the three most desired skills for emerging managers are communication, team collaboration and the ability to learn quickly.?
While technical ("hard") skills matter, it's the "soft skills" – interpersonal and people-centric – that are profoundly important yet more frequently overlooked.
Rather than resorting to rebranding these skills as “human skills” or “power skills”, there's a more pressing need to address the underlying perceptions of soft skills.?
A case in point is the CBI's "toxic" staff episode where the institution admitted to?promoting some managers “without the necessary prior and ongoing training” and paying more attention to competence than behaviour.
Okay, I'm just going to say it: Shouldn’t a leader’s competence be intrinsically tied to their behaviour?
Leadership's impact on workplace culture?
Hybrid work has placed managers in the spotlight of organisational change. Gartner notes that 60% of hybrid workers view their direct manager as their primary connection to company culture.?
Charles O'Reilly, Professor at Stanford GSB, researches how a leader’s personality influences their company's culture and performance. Through a study analysing earnings call data and Glassdoor reviews, O'Reilly's team found a strong correlation between a CEO's personality traits and the culture of their organisation.
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Let’s restate this in no uncertain terms: Leadership is the bridge to a company’s culture.?
The 2023 Work in America workforce survey paints a somber picture of workplace culture: 19% of participants label their work environment as toxic. While only 40% believe time off is respected and just 29% report managerial encouragement for mental well-being. Gosh.?
So, what taints a workplace? Surely, it can't all be attributed to management? The APA points fingers at issues like unethical behavior, lack of diversity, and rampant disrespect. All of which, leadership plays a crucial role in keeping at bay.?
Then there's the workplace dynamic where companies proudly declare their employees as “family”.
When your new company starts calling its employees a “family”, how quickly should you force quit all applications and run for the hills? As Kara Dennison writes in Forbes:
“Pushing the workplace family narrative suggests personal connections and unwavering support. This expectation turns false when executives must prioritize business decisions over employee well-being.”
It's no wonder then that Glassdoor discovered that 77% of job hunters assess a company’s culture even before the interview stage. After all, corporate culture is the best indicator for employee turnover:?"A toxic culture is 10.4 times more likely to contribute to attrition than compensation.” (MIT Sloan)
Helping managers be their best?
With employee stress at unprecedented levels, it's imperative to revisit how we support managers.?
Research by the CMI underscores the power of investment. A whopping 32% rise in employee engagement and productivity emerges with dedication to leadership programs. Yet, many leaders are ill-equipped for the demands of the modern workforce.
A mere 23% of HR leaders are convinced their manager developments are paying off.? Compounding this, only half of the workforce trusts their managers to guide their teams to success in the coming two years, according to Gartner.
While reskilling and leadership support are essential for managers to confidently face day-to-day challenges, some organisations must enact bigger changes: reevaluating who they hire (and why), resetting role expectations and removing process hurdles.
Which skills are overlooked in managers?
?? ?Take the LinkedIn poll and tell us which skills you think should be given more weight.
In the latest poll, an overwhelming 93% of people said that workplace monitoring tools are an invasion of personal space. (Feel free to nonchalantly tag your employer in the comments in case they missed the memo ??.)
?? Feedback & thoughts?
Do you have some interesting news to share? Get in touch, we'd love to hear from you!
P.S. If you need help developing your managers' soft skills (aka their superpowers), check out our content hub. Hit reply to this email or book a call to find out more.
Thanks for reading! Tamara Williams ??
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