Want Effective People Managers? Be Clear About the Job, Performance Expectations

People managers are the linchpin to the employee experience and accomplishing strategic business objectives, but they may not be getting the support they need to succeed, according to new SHRM research.

There is a relationship between highly effective managers and the commitment level of workers to the organization, SHRM researchers found. Of the 1,456 total U.S. workers surveyed, 63% of those who said their manager is highly effective also considered themselves “deeply committed to their organization.” Among those who said their manager was not highly effective, that number fell to just 28% feeling deeply committed.

And 92% of 336 senior executives said people managers are critical to their organizations’ overall success.

But people managers need their leaders to provide support and resources to be effective. Among the 1,406 people managers surveyed, the challenges they cited the most were:

1. A heavy workload—33%.
2. Balancing multiple responsibilities—22%.
3. Insufficient resources or budget constraints—20%.
4. Competing priorities—20%.
5. Employee turnover and retention—20%.

People managers also need clarity on how their performance is measured. More than half of 1,092 HR professionals (59%) said people managers typically are judged on whether they fulfilled strategic goals; 57% said they are evaluated by their teams’ productivity and work quality.

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