Has the time come to rethink the jobs of our managers?

‘Managers are the linchpin to organizational success. Left unaddressed, manager ineffectiveness can have a significant negative impact on not just managers, but long-term spill-over effects on business and talent outcomes.’

Gartner’s recent report ‘Managers are cracking and more training won’t help‘ provides some powerful data on the impact of poor – or overloaded – managers.

If you’re in HR, none of this will surprise you. You’ve been supporting these busy managers – and dealing with the consequences.

Are we coming to a tipping point, do you think?

The work landscape has changed so much since Covid, and now we have such rapid developments in AI – has the time come to rethink the jobs of the managers in your organisation?

Remote and hybrid working has put even more emphasis on the importance of people management – engagement, performance, intent to stay and wellbeing – but managers are still struggling under the same (or greater) workload.

In addition to this, so much in the nature of the work has changed – the tech, the projects, the context. The impetus of recent demands has led managers to accept a lot of iterative change, and the impact of that may have been shrouded by so much change in ways of working.

Either way, it looks like there’s the potential for a re-design of the jobs of many managers.

How well positioned is HR in your organisation to lead that kind of rethink? In order to reflect the radical nature of recent changes, this needs to be collaborative and strategic.

If you’re an HR leader who wants to drive strategic change, contact me for a complimentary coaching session.