Manager engagement and effectiveness declined last year, according to new RedThread Research. Saddling already beleaguered managers with more training and expectations won't help. To get back on track, organizations must provide managers and employees with the support they need to excel. HR and senior leaders can make it happen in 2023.
WOODSIDE, Calif., Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Manager engagement and effectiveness dipped significantly in 2022, according to a new report from RedThread research, "Managing Better in 2023: It Starts with You," by Stacia Garr and Priyanka Mehrotra. Based on a survey of more than 700 employees, together with interviews and other research, it captures a moment when managers across industries have begun to backslide.
"Our data from fall 2022 shows that managers are disengaged and significantly less effective compared to fall 2020," said Garr. "In the last two years, things have gotten worse for managers."
There's no doubt that managers are feeling overburdened. The last three years have brought pandemic challenges, difficulties returning to the office, and now, for many, the prospect or reality of layoffs.
"It's an incredibly challenging time for managers," said Garr. "After everything that's happened, now they're dealing with layoffs. Yet they also need to focus on retention because the talent market remains tight."
In this unique environment, the data revealed an unexpected twist. Managers themselves experienced only a slight decline in their capabilities in 2022. Despite ongoing difficulties, managers have largely held up their end of the bargain. It was instead the organizational levels of support for key drivers of manager effectiveness that dropped substantially.
"Support plummeted in 2022," said Mehrotra. "Back in 2020, everyone went into overdrive in terms of communication, accessibility of managers for employees, and the support managers were given. Now organizations are trying to pull back to pre-pandemic levels, but employees like and need the support they got in 2020."
HR leaders recognize the importance of manager engagement and effectiveness. It's a top priority for 2023, and they're ready with plans to roll out more training, new expectations, and different leadership approaches for managers. But that may not be the right path.
"Managers are what is going to get us through this difficult time, but they are also the ones who have the greatest need right now," said Garr. "As HR leaders, we're asking people to just do more and more and more. The answer isn't necessarily to ask for more."
To improve managers' effectiveness, HR leaders and senior executives should instead focus on the practices and systems that support managers and enable them to excel. In RedThread's new report, the authors identify three steps organizations can take to better support managers.
First, enable the community by encouraging connection, interaction, and most of all coaching, especially beyond the individual manager, whether with internal or external resources.
Second, create a map for success. Last year, just 38% of organizations provided clarity to employees on what they needed to do to succeed—a decline of 10% from 2021. Clarity gives employees a sense of purpose that drives engagement.
Third, provide GPS. Put performance management and engagement data in the hands of employees. When people can see where they and their teams are in relation to their goals, they can course correct on their own.
"We need to find ways to take work off managers' plates so they can succeed at what they are supposed to be doing," explained Mehrotra. "Empowering employees with data can help."
Making sure leaders and managers are as effective as possible is worth the effort. Organizations with highly effective managers have employees who are nearly three times as likely to give a positive NPS score, two and a half times more likely to say their organization is highly innovative, and more than one and a half times more likely to be highly engaged. All of which will help drive critical cost savings and growth in the recessionary months to come.
To realize these benefits, HR leaders and senior executives will need to step up with a plan to empower managers and their employees to do their best work.
"Manager effectiveness is a shared responsibility," said Garr. "You can't just leave managers on their own. They need support from the organization to be effective."
READ THE FULL REPORT with a free seven-day membership at http://www.redthreadresearch.com. For complete access to the latest research in performance management, human resources, and workforce learning and development strategies, become a RedThread Research member. You can also access a summary of the report here: https://landing.redthreadresearch.com/managing-better-summary
READ AN ARTICLE based on this research, published TODAY by MIT Sloan (note: there is a paywall), which goes into some additional depth on our findings, here: https://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/whats-holding-back-manager-effectiveness-and-how-to-fix-it/
ABOUT STACIA GARR, Co-founder and Principal Analyst, RedThread Research
Stacia is a researcher and thought leader on talent management, leadership, D&I, people analytics, and HR technology. A frequent speaker and writer, her work has been featured in Fortune, Forbes, The New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal as well as in numerous HR trade publications. Stacia co-founded RedThread Research in 2018, after leading talent and workforce research for eight years at Bersin by Deloitte. Before Bersin, Stacia spent approximately five years conducting research and creating learning content for the Corporate Leadership Council, part of CEB/Gartner. She has an MBA from the University of California, Berkeley, and a master's degree from the London School of Economics.
ABOUT PRIYANKA MEHROTRA, Senior Analyst, RedThread Research
Before joining RedThread in 2018, Priyanka was part of the research team at Bersin by Deloitte, where she worked on talent management, leadership, and people analytics as well as conducting research and contributing content for Bersin's Mid-market study. Prior to Bersin by Deloitte, Priyanka worked at several non-profits, think-tanks, and international organizations, where she published and co-authored several articles and conducted research on international relations, conflict, and development.
ABOUT REDTHREAD RESEARCH
In an HR industry rife with jargon and fluff, RedThread Research connects experience, data, and ideas to provide substance and actionable insights. RedThread researchers are experts in performance, people analytics, learning, and diversity and inclusion, as well as the emerging technologies to support them. Their original research is developed through broad collaboration to curate the best ideas and written in plain language to be as useful as possible. The result is high-quality, unbiased, transformative foresight to help organizations improve people practices and build a stronger business.
To learn more, visit http://www.redthreadresearch.com.
Media Contact
Stacia Garr, RedThread Research, 202-957-4130, [email protected]
SOURCE RedThread Research
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