I remember about 20 years ago working in an office with two other managers. We all felt under pressure and stressed. There was never enough hours in the day and trying to reach our objectives in an environment that lacked financial backing almost seemed impossible. Added to that was continuous problems amongst teams, low morale and just more projects, investigations or performance improvement plans that seemed to add to our workload and stress.
20 years later many managers are reporting not just the same kinds of pressures but that it’s actually getting worse in many sectors. Gartner’s [1] international survey found that as many as 54% of managers were suffering from work related stress and fatigue. They are the lynch pin in any organisation and effective managers contribute significantly to more engaged employee’s, higher performance, increased retention and importantly higher levels of physical and mental wellbeing [2].
“effective managers contribute significantly to more engaged employee’s, higher performance, increased retention and importantly higher levels of physical and mental wellbeing”
The post pandemic world has had a huge impact. There have been significant changes in markets and the cost of living crisis has forced many organisations to change. Gallup’s 2023 [3] report found that managers reported organisational change, including 64% giving employees additional responsibilities, 51% restructuring and 42% experiencing budget cuts.
A lot of the above types of changes rely on managers to implement and often come with increased stress to employees. Whilst effective management can help to mitigate employee stress, managers themselves are also subject to increased stress under such change and there can be a real feeling of being squeezed between the demands and expectations of organisational leaders and employees who they manage.
Worryingly the Chartered Institute for Managers (CMI) UK survey [2] found that around 82% of managers and leaders lack any formal leadership or management qualifications. With one third not having any training at all.
You might think that providing training would be the first step, and I think you would be right. This is supported by the CMI’s research which shows that trained managers have a significantly greater positive impact on their line reports than those without training and are more likely to be effective managers. So it’s a no brainer.
But is a training course or qualification, on it’s own, good enough? In my experience of working with both trained and untrained managers, I would say probably not. If the roles that managers have are stretched, ill-defined and unsupported then even the best managers will struggle. If the culture in the organisation is toxic and leadership ineffective, or managers are isolated with limited support, then good managers can drown. If the changes demanded of the managers are big challenges, outside of their experience and they are not engaged in designing the change then there can be significant anxiety for even the most experienced managers. So it’s important to recognise that managers are an essential part of an organisational system and that they are human beings and as talented as they might be, there are limitations.
“It’s hardly surprising that so many managers are in a state of stress, which is often hidden due to fears and shame. The irony (and tragedy) is that most managers are experiencing the same things and yet feel that they are alone.”
You might think that effectively supporting managers might help and I would agree wholeheartedly. However, managers who have good managers themselves can also face challenges when the wider system is under strain. A good example is where an organisation invests in coaching skills for managers, which on the surface is great, but fails to recognise that the time to effectively apply those skills is in short supply due to the demands. Nor does the organisation recognise that sending managers on a course requires the skills learnt to be supported in order to be applied and sustained in the real world.
Last year I spent six months working with first line managers using team coaching and action learning approaches to help support the real life application of manager skills. Much of that time was focused not just on the practicalities of what should be done as a manager but importantly on the human and psychological impacts of their work with people. It’s strange that managers, who are often dealing with complex human dynamics and making decisions that have real life changing impacts on people, can have very few places to turn for support. It’s hardly surprising that so many managers are in a state of stress, which is often hidden due to fears and shame. The irony (and tragedy) is that most managers are experiencing the same things and yet feel that they are alone. There were many positive outcomes from the action learning work, but the most powerful was that managers no longer felt alone and were able to have a safe space where they could reflect, build resilience and integrate their learnt skills in the real world.
You might think that managers get supervision or one to ones and so what I’ve talked about above should be covered. Unfortunately, this doesn’t happen for a few reasons. Firstly, time constraints mean that the majority of supervision or one to one’s is focused on the doing of activities and tasks with relatively little time for reflective practice. Secondly, the power dynamic in the relationship in supervision is a factor and their can be a whole host of expectations and projections that prevent a real dialogue occurring. Finally, it’s a conversation between two people, who are often doing different jobs so there is a lack of breadth and relatedness in the experience being shared.
I think there is a case for supporting communities of practice for managers. Whilst time comes as a premium these days, there’s significant benefits, not just in terms of developing management practice and supporting manager wellbeing by dealing with the real issues that keep them awake at night, but also increasing connectivity and networking opportunity in the organisation. It’s also a practice that supports and actively demonstrates a learning culture that doesn’t just focus on skills but on the application of practice and crucially relationships. If you want to keep managers, enable them to develop and live healthier lives then I think such investments are necessary.
“Gartner [1] found that 45% of managers were spending more time managing projects than managing people...it’s worth stepping back to consider what you want and need managers to do and how their skills best serve the organisation.”
Even with all the support in the world, it will not address the more fundamental issue of role demands. The demands on managers can often take them away from managing people and I think any organisation needs to consider how the roles are defined and evaluate workload so they can prioritise their work with people. Interestingly Gartner [1] found that 45% of managers were spending more time managing projects than managing people. Whilst this may be okay in some roles or for a short period of time, it’s worth stepping back to consider what you want and need managers to do and how their skills best serve the organisation. Focusing on process issues, role scope and what can make their life easier is important work not only in optimising manager performance but also in engaging them in finding the solutions that work for them.
Many different sectors are currently hit by staff leaving jobs and talent shortages [4]. Managers play a critical role in supporting retention and driving business performance, so investing in them makes sense. Additionally, managers themselves are under increased pressure and more of them are changing roles. Organisations need to look more deeply than just salaries [4,5] and quick hire, when labour markets are under such pressure. They need consider how they can enable retention through developing people managers, connecting them and enabling them to be resilient and work through the challenges they face.
I support managers and leaders to have ‘space to think’. If this has been helpful and you want to enable managers to be great, increase their resilience and wellbeing through challenging times or engage them in becoming part of a learning culture, then contact me for a no obligation chat and let’s see what happens.
[1] Managers are Cracking and More Training Won’t help (2023). Gartner
[2] Taking Responsibility- Why UK PLC Needs Better Managers. (Oct 2023) CMI
[3] The Manager Squeeze: How the New Workplace Is Testing Team Leaders (2023). Gallup. [online] https://www.gallup.com/workplace/510326/manager-squeeze-new-workplace-testing-team-leaders.aspx
[4] More UK employees are leaving their jobs than ever before: How businesses can respond (2022) Allas, T. McKinsey & co. [online] https://www.mckinsey.com/uk/our-insights/the-mckinsey-uk-blog/more-uk-employees-are-leaving-their-jobs-than-ever-how-businesses-can-respond
[5] Money isn’t enough in the race for talent, new report data shows (2022) Chartered Institute for Personnel and Development. [online] https://www.cipd.org/uk/about/press-releases/260922-cipd-resourcing-talent-planning-survey/
Image: Photo by Elisa Ventur on Unsplash– with thanks