According to a study conducted by Gartner, more than three-quarters of employees, specifically 77%, state that it has become extremely important for them to feel supported by their direct manager. At the same time, it emerged that managers are facing higher expectations from their organizations, including new responsibilities that have come with the implementation of the hybrid work system.
The study, conducted in December with a sample of 6,000 managers and frontline employees, revealed that managers are twice as likely to report an increase in their workload compared to employees with specific tasks, compared to the pre-pandemic period. For instance, 35% of managers report having more direct reports, and 49% believe that the complexity of their responsibilities has increased.
Additionally, the research by Gartner shows that focusing on managing the manager role – supporting managers to consider their role as manageable, focused, and sustainable – helps them to be five times more effective in achieving organizational goals compared to guiding them based on their competency levels.
Employees who are coordinated by effective managers are 15.4 times more likely to perform well. Furthermore, the retention rate for these employees is 3.2 times higher, and their physical and mental health is 12.5% better.
Organizations can implement four initiatives to improve task management regarding the manager role:
1. Reframe Job Role Expectations
According to Brent Cassell, vice president of the HR research group at Gartner, a mid-level manager currently has 51% more responsibilities than they can effectively manage. Considering this, Cassell believes the most suitable action organizations can take is to redefine the manager role to focus on activities that have the most significant impact on improving efficiency.
Currently, many leading organizations are attempting to change the manager role by:
– Delegating authority and resources to managers to help create connections among employees for learning and development purposes.
– Focusing on tasks that add value to the company.
2. Redefine Manager Selection Criteria
At present, most organizations internally evaluate potential candidates for managerial positions based on their past performance as frontline employees. According to Gartner, 79% of HR leaders say that a frontline employee’s results heavily influence their consideration for promotion to a managerial role for the first time.
Brent Cassell argues that this approach is not advisable because high performance as a frontline employee does not necessarily predict future performance as a manager. There is also a risk that someone who does not desire the managerial role could end up in the position.
Companies aiming to progress and change their leadership style will allow potential managers to discover the skills that qualify them for such a role through identifying their strengths and participating in various programs that simulate managerial responsibilities before taking on the actual position.
3. Help Create Long-Term Habits
Despite many companies increasingly investing in managerial skills development programs, Gartner’s analysis found that this focus on competencies only increases a manager’s effectiveness by 4%. Instead of focusing on skill development, organizations should help managers build long-term habits that will ultimately lead to more effective managerial behaviors.
By building such habits, managers will save time and energy, resources that can be directed towards activities that add value to the company. Additionally, managers need to be aware that they serve as role models for both frontline employees and other managers, whom they can influence to adopt the same habits and behaviors.
4. Eliminate Cumbersome Processes
The presence of cumbersome workflows in the organization, such as outdated onboarding processes or extremely complex budget approval processes, increases manager fatigue by up to 42%.
In conclusion, companies must place greater importance on management processes and focus on actions that will lead to the achievement of organizational goals in the long term.