The manager-employee relationship

A manager & an employee have a chat: the manager-employee relationship & our research.

On a recent afternoon, Charles (the manager) and Kari (the employee) settled in to have a Zoom chat about managers, the manager-employee relationship, Integral Index findings, direct reports, life experience, effectiveness, relationships, and trust. Here’s our conversation, with tips highlighted along the way.

Bottom line: Charles & Kari agree – organizations need to elevate the role of frontline managers, listen to what they have to say and act on that information.

Kari: So, Charles, what is the most important thing people should know about managers?

Charles: How important they are. In our Index research, we looked at the correlation between a managers’ treatment of their employees and the degree of trust in the organization that the employee feels.

The results were amazing: Employees who are positive about the way their manager treats them are far more likely to trust the organization as a whole. To take just one example, if you agree with the statement “My manager shows me encouragement for my efforts,” you’re more likely to feel positive about your organization on a whole range of topics. You’re 61 points more likely to say the organization treats employees fairly and justly; 58 points more likely to say the organization can be relied on to keep its promises; and even 45 points more likely to believe the organization has the ability to do what it says it will do!

Tip 1: Think about your hiring criteria for managers

Kari: So, what can an organization do to help managers make a positive difference on the employee experience?

Charles: The first step is to make sure the criteria you use when you’re hiring for managers include coaching and communication skills. A lot of times people are promoted to manager because they’re a leader in that subject matter area. They’re very knowledgeable or competent at that kind of work – but that’s different from being good at managing people. When you’re hiring for managers, part of the interview process should be making sure they’re skilled at managing people, or have the emotional intelligence to learn.

By the way, that’s a distinction I had to learn myself. When I first became a manager I thought, “Oh, good, my voice will carry more weight in getting the right things done.” Then I realized, “Oh. A lot of this is managing these people and all their stuff.”

Kari: People have lots of stuff, you know, Charles. Feeeeeelings and opinions and all that.

Charles: Yeah. A woman I worked with used to say, “You hire people for their skills and their experience, but then the whole damn person shows up for work.”

Kari: [laughs] That’s right! I think bringing your authentic self to work is fraught for so many people. People are hard.

Charles: No joke!

Tip 2: Listen to your managers

Kari: What should people and organizations be thinking or doing about the people part of managing?

Charles: Ask managers about what they need and get their feedback on company programs – maybe even as you’re formulating those programs. A lot of people talk about employee listening programs, but you rarely hear anybody say you should listen to managers specifically. Why not? They’re the ones who live at the intersection of company direction and employee experience. We’ve got some ideas about bringing that to life. For example, an organization could host sessions throughout the year where managers would present, in person, to senior leaders and say, “here’s what we’re seeing on the front lines. Here’s what we could really use your help with.” Something genuine and face to face.

Kari: Aren’t there different kinds of managers, though? C-suite people are still managing people, and so are the Director-level types and frontline managers. And they’re also still people, not robots.

Charles: A hundred percent. In the Index, we looked at the perspectives of senior managers, middle managers, frontline managers and non-managers. We found that with each increase in management responsibility, employees become more likely to have positive attitudes about the way they’re treated. And if you look at overall mindset, what’s fascinating is that frontline managers’ responses are identical to employees’ responses – and much less positive than the responses of more senior leaders.

Tip 3: Use managers as a key communications channel

Kari: I think one of our recommendations in The Index is to be intentional about using managers as a communication channel. And that’s a kind of manager-employee relationship.

Charles: Yes! John and Carolina are the Integralistas who’ve worked on that the most, and we offer training on that – but we all believe it. I wrote a blog post on this topic, where I said that managers are the heart of your culture. If you get an email from corporate communications, it’s fairly trivial compared to your manager saying, “Hey, listen, I gotta tell you about this thing. It’s important.” Your manager’s voice carries so much weight.

Kari: That it does.

Tip 4: Create genuine relationships

Kari: How do you create a strong manager-employee relationship?

Charles: First, as a manager, you have to figure out a way to play that role that’s authentic to you. You have to find a way to be an effective boss, while still authentically being yourself. Then the “real you” should take the initiative to get to know the employee and what makes them tick.

Kari: Yes, of course. What else?

Charles: Second, I think the two things people want most from their manager are clear direction – “what am I supposed to do?” – and caring about them as a person. If you know that your boss truly cares about you, that goes a long, long way toward making you feel empowered and energized about your job.

Kari: Well, it matters more than some people might think, that’s for sure. Especially when some people are remote.

Tip 5: Design recognition programs to encourage positive manager behaviors

Kari: What else?

Charles: Another tip is to design a recognition program for certain kinds of manager behaviors. Ideally, behaviors that can be recognized and encouraged could be focused on emotional intelligence or helping your team. For instance, a frontline manager might get recognized if someone on their team gets promoted into a new position or if a direct report gets some sort of technical certification or an award for something they published. The point is for you, as a manager, to be rewarded if your people are prospering in their careers.

Kari: Yes, please.

Charles: An article I read in Forbes talked about the importance employee recognition plays in building a strong workplace community. The Index data finds that too.

Tip 6: Put frontline managers at the center

Kari: OK, last question: What is the biggest takeaway for people thinking about the role of frontline managers? And also, the frontline managers themselves. Or that manager-employee relationship?

Charles: I’d love to see an org chart where, instead of a hierarchy with frontline managers close to the bottom, you had concentric circles with frontline managers near the center. Because they’re central! They oversee the vast majority of the work. They interface directly with the employees. Upper-level managers and C-suite people are in a much more rarefied environment. Frontline managers are the ones who are actually making everything happen with their teams, and everybody above them is like, two or three levels removed from the actual work.

Kari: Like this?

Charles: Yes, like this!

Kari: It's like we planned this or somethin'. ;) Thanks for the chat, Charles!

Got questions about the manager-employee relationship, about how you can design a manager listening program or create a recognition program to celebrate specific manager behaviors that uplift employees?

Let’s talk!