Manager effectiveness is the ability for managers to help their teams be successful while serving the organization’s mission. Managers can make or break a workplace. Good managers are crucial for fueling strong performance, while bad managers can be major roadblock to success. For many employees, their manager is a key factor in how they feel about their jobs—and their lives overall. In fact, 69% of people said managers have just as much of an impact on their mental health as their spouse, and even more of an impact than their doctor or therapist, according to a study by The Workforce Institute at UKG.
Unfortunately, many companies promote employees to managerial positions based on their performance as individual contributors, regardless of whether they have the necessary skills. This results in poorly prepared, ineffective managers, which negatively affects employee engagement, productivity, retention, and more.
The good news is that effective managements skills can be taught and learned. Increasing manager effectiveness is essential for any organization that wants to thrive in today’s competitive business environment. Taking action to improve your managers’ skills and coach future leaders is an investment in the future, fostering a more motivated, committed, and high-performing workforce and positioning the organization for long-term success.
What Makes Managers Effective?
An effective manager has the skills and decision making abilities to guide their teams in fueling organizational success, while helping them reach their individual goals, all within a positive work environment. This takes a combination of skills and traits, including:
Communication
A manager’s ability to communicate goals, expectations, and feedback effectively is critical. To effectively lead, managers must also be able to practice active listening with team members, understand their needs, and take prompt action to help and guide them.
Delegation
An effective manager trusts employees to handle delegated responsibilities, providing guidance when needed but avoiding micromanagement. This approach allows managers to focus on higher-level strategy while empowering employees.
Interpersonal skills
Managers can’t fulfill their role if they can’t deal well with people. An effective manager has the emotional intelligence to understand what drives people and solve problems in an empathetic way. Managers need to be adept at offering constructive feedback, motivating and rewarding team members, negotiating conflict, and correcting unhealthy team dynamics, among other interpersonal skills.
Coaching and mentoring
Good managers not only support their team members in performing their current duties; they also use mentoring to help them reach their potential. Managers should understand their employees’ strengths and weaknesses, short- and long-term goals, and motivations so they can provide personalized mentoring to help team members learn and grow. This approach builds trust, drives accountability, and increases job satisfaction while cultivating a skilled, engaged, and loyal team. According to a CNBC/SurveyMonkey Workplace Happiness Survey, 91% of employees with a mentor are satisfied with their jobs, with 57% of those saying they are “very satisfied.”
Managing up
Effective managers also know how to “manage up,” communicating effectively with senior leaders to make sure team members have the resources they need and pushing back on unrealistic expectations—while protecting employees from undue interference or confusion.
How Effective Managers Improve Your Organization
Managers have a huge impact on employee performance—and the ability of an organization to achieve its mission. In fact, leader and manager effectiveness is the top priority of 60% of HR leaders, according to a Gartner survey. Leaders know that great managers can make a big difference in the following areas:
Employee engagement: Effective managers work hard to make sure employees are challenged but get the guidance and resources they need to succeed. They eliminate toxic dynamics, foster a sense of trust and teamwork, and ensure that employees feel valued for their contributions, boosting engagement levels.
Retention: Impactful managers create a positive environment where team members are treated with respect and feel heard. These managers also offer opportunities for team members to grow and work toward their career goals. When organizations make this kind of investment in their workers, employees are much more likely to invest their time in the company over the long term.
Productivity: A workplace where employees are motivated, engaged, and feel supported paves the way for high performance and better outcomes. Supporting managers sparks business results: A study by M.I.T. shows a positive relationship between leader development programs and organizational performance.
Agility: The ability to change is crucial in today’s fast-paced world. Effective leaders clearly communicate the reasons for change and support their teams through transitions. This creates more adaptable teams, allowing organizations to respond nimbly to market changes, improve business outcomes, and maintain a competitive edge.
How to Measure Manager Effectiveness
Measuring manager effectiveness is critical for improvement. It’s important to establish clear expectations and baseline metrics as well as create a standard process for ongoing performance reviews and improvement. Metrics that enterprises can use to measure manager effectiveness include:
- Employee engagement: Managers have a huge influence on morale. Positive employee engagement scores among the team indicate manager effectiveness.
- Retention/turnover rates: Ineffective managers don’t give employees the new challenges and support they need to want to stay with an organization. If a specific team suffers high turnover, it’s worth looking at what the manager can do to change the situation.
- Team performance: Effective managers get the job done, helping the team work together to meet performance goals.
- Manager performance: Managers should have their own performance goals, performance reviews, and a process in place for how to continually improve.
- 360-degree feedback: 360-degree feedback involves gathering feedback from a manager’s direct reports, peers, and supervisors. This offers a well-rounded view of their performance for business goals, people management, and overall manager effectiveness.
Organizations should measure manager effectiveness regularly. The data gathered paints a picture of a manager’s progress or areas where they can improve. Then leadership and the manager can work together on a plan to fill any gaps or get support where it’s needed to improve manager effectiveness.
Ways to Improve Manager Effectiveness
While some great managers are born, many more are taught and trained. Enterprises can choose from a variety of tools, programs, and practices to improve manager effectiveness companywide.
Mentoring
Mentoring is one of the most effective ways to provide leadership training and improve critical management skills. Within a mentoring relationship, seasoned leaders can share their experiences and insights, providing personalized guidance and feedback to help the mentee solve real-world problems. Mentorship provides a safe space for managers to voice their challenges, learn new approaches, gain different perspectives, and become more self-aware about their strengths and weaknesses. Mentors act as trusted sounding boards and often help expand their mentees’ professional network and access to resources, giving them the tools and connections they need to keep growing.
Formal mentoring programs can be especially valuable for groups that may not have as much access to informal mentoring opportunities. Mentorship can make a big impact on a manager’s trajectory, so it’s important to make sure they have a chance to participate. This can be a key factor in women leadership, for example. In a global DDI study, 67 percent of women said mentorship is very important in helping them develop their careers.
Workshops
Workshops focused on leadership and management skills can also play a significant role in improving manager effectiveness. Workshops provide a structured environment for managers to learn new techniques, share experiences with peers, and practice their skills. Topics might include effective communication, delegation, emotional intelligence, conflict resolution, and performance management—all crucial skills for impactful management.
Management skills are never one-and-done; managers must practice what they learn and continually build capabilities. While workshops can offer a deep dive into a specific topic, managers can continue to evolve their skills with learning opportunities such as online courses, microlearning and peer learning.
Reorganizing
It’s important for managers to have the right skills and characteristics to successfully serve their direct reports and the enterprise. But organizations can also set managers up for success by making sure structures and processes don’t get in their way. For example, when managers have too many direct reports, they may struggle to provide adequate support and guidance to each team member. Reorganizing so that managers have fewer team members can significantly improve managerial effectiveness.
Siloes are another structural problem that can negatively affect managers, leaving them and their teams operating in isolation. Reorganizing to eliminate siloes encourages cross-departmental communication and collaboration, fostering a more inclusive, cohesive work environment and keeping managers in the loop.
Setting Goals
Goal-setting is another powerful tool for improving manager effectiveness. By setting clear, achievable, measurable objectives together with their managers, managers can focus their efforts because they know what they’re working toward. Managers’ individual goals should be tailored to their needs, strengths, and weaknesses and align with the organization’s overall objectives. Regularly reviewing progress toward these goals can help managers identify areas for improvement and make a plan for adjustments as needed.
Cultivating Effective Leaders With Mentoring
Mentoring doesn’t only help managers become better at their jobs; it’s also key for developing leaders at your organization. By providing employees with mentoring opportunities, enterprises can help them learn critical leadership skills. Mentoring allows employees to gain insights from experienced leaders, build their confidence, and develop a broader perspective.
The benefits of leadership development include opportunities to create a strong talent pipeline so the enterprise can promote from within, building a deep well of institutional knowledge, realizing strong ROI in employees while reducing hiring costs, and creating high retention. When employees see opportunities for advancement, they are more likely to be motivated and engaged in their work. Employees at companies that tend to hire from within stay 41 percent longer than workers at companies with lower internal hiring rates, research shows. A culture of internal hiring offers a host of benefits for organizations, including better business performance, increased institutional stability and continuity, and succession prospects.
Empowering Managers on the Chronus Mentoring Platform
The Chronus mentoring platform empowers organizations to train and develop effective managers and leaders. Chronus software streamlines and automates mentoring, coaching, and structured learning programs, allowing organizations to focus on reaping the benefits of mentoring for managers and leaders rather than getting bogged down in administration.
The software offers personalized matching to pair mentors and mentees based on their skills, goals, and interests. MatchIQ® technology enables employees to self-match, ensuring that each participant has the best opportunity for a meaningful mentoring connection—and better results.
Chronus also provides an extensive set of tools to support structured development programs for manager and leader advancement. With Chronus, organizations can create customized learning paths that align with learners’ needs and goals. This can include a mix of formal training, peer learning, and self-paced educational resources.
The platform promotes continuous learning and development through its community-building features, promoting networking and knowledge-sharing among participants. This allows future leaders to learn from each other’s experiences and build a supportive professional network.
Organizations can also easily track learners’ progress with robust analytics and reporting capabilities. Administrators can use the data to refine training strategies and ensure that leadership development programs are delivering on results.
The development of effective managers and strong leaders is too important to be left to chance. Chronus software offers a comprehensive solution for organizations looking to create a culture of leadership excellence and peak performance.
