UPSKILL YOUR MANAGERS OR LOSE YOUR BEST TALENT.

Why we must invest in Management training.

Would you fly on an aeroplane that hasn’t been upgraded or serviced in a while?

…possibly not…

Why?

Well, it doesn’t feel very safe!

The same is true for managers.

Would you entrust your teams to managers who haven’t been trained or upskilled on people management?

No, you wouldn’t!

Why? The cost is too high!

Gallup research that:

• Only 10% of people naturally possess the talent to manage.
• Globally, the cost of poor management approaches $7 trillion – or 9% to 10% of the world’s GDP.

The Centre for Creative Leadership ?found that:

• 20% of first-time managers are doing a poor job, according to their subordinates.
• Almost 60% say they never received any training when they transitioned into their first leadership role.

As we mention in our blog “Good managers don’t grow on trees”: managers are not easy to find, however, they can be made.

To excel in their roles and foster a productive and harmonious work environment, managers must be continuously upskilled and consistently trained in three key areas: effective communication, empathy, and coaching.

Effective Communication: The Foundation of Leadership

Effective communication at all levels is the foundation of any successful organization.

Managers have a direct relationship with most of your workforce, making their communication skills fundamental.

Here’s why great communication matters:

• Clear goals and expectations.
• Effective conflict prevention.
• Higher employee engagement.
• Lower employee turnover.

Empathy: The Heart of Leadership

Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of others.

It can make a substantial difference to a workplace culture and team interactions.

Managing empathically will help managers to:

• Nurture employee well-being.
• Foster trust and respect.
• Build stronger relationships.
• Create successful teams.

Becoming Coaches: Nurturing Talent and Potential

Coaching can help implement learning that sticks and improvements that create long-term benefits.

When your managers become coaches, they create teams of highly successful people who get stuff done.

Strong coaching contributes to:

• Skill development
• Performance improvement.
• Greater ownership of goals and objectives

Investing in the upskilling and continuous training of your managers will bring real change to the wider business; from higher employee engagement to reduced turnover, improved performance, and a positive company culture.

Guided on-the-job learning can help managers develop the necessary skills in the flow of their daily work. This ensures that the new skills are applied straight away, making them stick.

This article was written by Alessandra Atria for The Motivation Agency and first appeared in HR Briefing on 19 October 2023.