Manager Development
A primer on how to start developing managers who drive results in their organizations.
For companies of all stages and sizes, the importance of effective managers - people leaders charged with accomplishing work through others - cannot be overstated. The moment an organization puts one human being in charge of another’s work, they have introduced a management structure, and success is tied to how well managers can focus their teams on the right work and empower them to perform. Leaving individuals to figure out how to be a good people leader on their own puts teams and projects in jeopardy. Instead, organizations need to intentionally invest in equipping people leaders at every level with the practical skills, tools, and support they need to fulfill their critical role.
What’s in this knowledge article?
What is manager development?
Why develop your managers?
When and how to develop your managers
How to Improve your Alotten Score
Resources
What is manager development?
Alotten defines managers as people leaders at any level, and manager development as a solution or series of solutions designed to improve people leader’s abilities to execute in their roles. Alotten approaches leadership development as an organizational transformation that starts at the top, enables performance at every level, and makes the business measurably better, as shown in our leader development framework below.
Why develop your managers?
Many well-intentioned organizations create or buy manager development programs as a way to show they care about and support employees and their careers. While this positive gesture may result in an uptick in employee sentiment, it may miss the opportunity to achieve the organizational impact that a more intentional approach to manager development can deliver. In our view, the principal reason to invest in manager development is to equip and influence your people leaders to do something different or better in service of a business objective.
Using manager development in this way requires a concerted upfront effort to gain clarity, alignment and support at the most senior levels of the organization. This approach can help solve expensive problems (failure to address underperformance, siloed decision-making, slow hiring, etc.) and capitalize on opportunities with huge upside (customer and stakeholder engagement, creative problem solving, developing top talent). Goals can be specific (increase goal attainment by 20% over six months for participants’ direct reports, etc.) or can be framed in terms of the target behaviors and organizational metrics (reduce regrettable turnover by 50% this year through targeted manager training to improve communication, delegation, and employee development skills). Some common areas your organization may want to address through manager development include:
Performance: Managers play a pivotal role in shaping the performance of their teams. They set the team’s priorities, develop team members, and are the face of critical people operation processes like performance and compensation. Organizations can build manager skills to prioritize and delegate work, set clear expectations, provide feedback and coaching, and communicate talent decisions.
Retention: Turnover is expensive, and regrettable turnover can sap institutional knowledge as well as employee morale. A Gallup study found that up to 75% of the reasons employees leave their jobs are influenced by their managers. Training your people leaders to better engage and support their teams can eliminate one of the main reasons your talent is walking out the door.
Engagement: Organizations that care about employee engagement are likely familiar with the Gallup data that shows that higher scores can boost productivity by 21%, and that people managers are responsible for about 70% of the factors driving employee engagement. Putting these two stats together makes a strong case for investing in core manager skills like conducting high-impact 1x1s, leading meaningful career conversations, and coaching employees that are tied to employee engagement.
When and how to develop your managers
While startups and earlier-stage growth-phase companies generally have fewer managers to develop than later-stage companies, every organization with dedicated people manager or player/coach roles needs some sort of manager development now to help the people in these roles be effective. It’s especially important to have ongoing manager training once you begin to build out a middle layer of management between the C-suite and front line employees.
Manager Development: Step-by-step
You can follow the steps below if you’re just getting started, or to differentiate your manager development efforts by level (future manager, new manager, manager of managers, organizational leader, and executive leader) as you progress in your development journey. Pro tip: complete steps 1 and 2 first to ensure that subsequent steps can take root in the organization.
Define and align. At the highest levels of the organization, align, define, and communicate what effective people leadership looks like in your organization. Be specific.
Lead. Senior leaders embrace ‘walking the talk,’ modeling desired behaviors, holding each other accountable, developing their direct reports, and creating an environment that reinforces expectations.
Operationalize. Embed expectations across talent tools, processes and programs (competencies, performance management, talent reviews, manager hiring, development).
Build capabilities. Design solutions (workshops, mentoring, coaching, rotations, experiences, projects, etc.) to impact specific desired outcomes. Target skills and behaviors that support your model of effective people leadership. Choose the right format to maximize experiences and interaction.
Build community. Institute a practice of bringing people leaders together on a regular basis. Create space for meaningful discussion and peer coaching around real challenges. This serves to reinforce skill building and also creates a cohort who can advise and support each other.
Iterate. Regularly measure and communicate individual, program, and organizational results. Leverage engagement survey results and other data to inform the focus of continuous people leader development.
How to Improve your Alotten Score
Did your Alotten Score suggest you focus on your Manager Development? If you’re looking to get started, enhance existing programs, or revolutionize the tangible outcomes of your investment, Alotten is here to help.
Contact us at support@alotten.com.
Resources
Investing in middle managers pays off - literally: McKinsey cites hard dollar outcomes from training middle managers
Activating Middle Managers Through Capability Building: McKinsey shares how to drive business results through manager skill building
Zombie Leadership: ScienceDirect article puts outdated ideas about leadership permanently to rest (RIP)
Lie 9: Leadership is a thing: Marcus Buckingham debunks commonly held beliefs about leadership
Do Manager Training Programs Boost Companies’ productivity? Kellogg Insight research says HR training gives the biggest boost
The Leap to Leader: HBR article on the mental shifts for a successful transition to an executive position
Five Ways to Offer Learning Opportunities with no Budget: Forbes article describes informal approaches to building capabilities
