The engagement level of managers directly affects employee engagement. According to Gallup, employees who are supervised by highly engaged managers are 59% more likely to be engaged than those supervised by actively disengaged managers. The good news is, disengaged managers can become engaged. The bad news is engaged managers can become disengaged. Here’s how:
1. Not Providing Enough Support – Managing is hard and it is dynamic. Style and success vary according to any number of factors including team makeup, organizational goals and senior leadership. One-size-fits all approaches only provide a foundational level of understanding and cannot begin to address the many nuances of human beings working together successfully. Therefore, the skill of managing- yes, it is a skill- needs be nourished, challenged, supported and recognized. Too often, senior leadership will ignore mid-level management either as a misguided gesture of trust or because they do not make time to provide the support that is needed. As a result, managers are left alone to make decisions that carry with them significant consequences.
How to avoid this – Make manager development and support an organizational priority. Provide regular supervision sessions and ample opportunities for professional development. Provide trainings and coaching in house and encourage managers to seek external development opportunities. This will not only help improve managers’ skillsets but will also send the message that managerial success is an organizational priority.
2. Putting Middle Managers…in the Middle – In lower-functioning organizations, middle managers are put in the position of having to choose between the teams they lead and senior leadership, setting up the manager for failure. This creates an organizational culture built on conflict, competing interests and constant struggle. Organizations that function this way can never achieve the success they desire.
How to avoid this – Highly functional organizations are on the same page top to bottom. This means that the interests and goals of lower level employees are the same as those of senior leadership. Employees understand how they fit into the bigger picture, and senior leadership understands the needs of their employees. This requires intentionality and transparency. When
employees play a meaningful role and understand how they contribute to the bottom line, their engagement increases which increases productivity and decreases turnover. Senior leadership must set the tone that all staff are valuable and valued and that it takes everyone on board to succeed.
3. Not Managing all Managers Equitably – Too often, the reward for good work is more of it. Senior leadership grows to rely on their top-producing managers and shows it by giving them more and more responsibility. Meanwhile, lower-performing managers are often ignored and left to continue their low performance.
How to avoid this – As senior managers expect middle managers to handle performance issues, so must senior managers. Recognizing strong performance and handling poor performance sends the message that expectations matter and are enforced. When employees see that poor performance is being addressed, this increases trust in leadership’s commitment to accountability and fairness. On the flip side, if poor performance continues without being addressed, employees lose faith in management which contributes to decreased engagement.
