In the modern workplace, middle managers are an essential part of the success of any organization. They have a dual role: They need to be able to maintain relationships with those below them in the hierarchy and those above them. At the same time, they need to be able to support their teams with coaching, guidance and mentorship. In short: They need to be leaders.
While some senior leaders recognize the value of middle managers as enablers and coaches, they aren’t always great at supporting them. Ceridian’s 2022 Executive Survey revealed that leaders aren’t always clear on how best to support their middle management teams — or how much support these teams actually need.
This article will explore how middle managers should and will change in the future, and how learning and development teams can use their know-how to build and curate learning pathways that are valuable and useful for this pivotal group of employees.
The role of middle managers is changing
Middle managers used to just manage. They were responsible for getting their teams to complete projects on time and within budget, but the bulk of their work was about keeping things running smoothly: ensuring that work was done properly, that employees were following protocol and that everyone was working hard enough.
But as times have moved on and resources have become scarce, middle managers have needed to shift and hone their focus on employee retention and training. This has been a real challenge as middle managers are also contending with their own learning needs, shifting from being technical experts and doers to influencers and leaders as well as the changing nature of work and employee culture.
As a result of these changes in the workplace, middle managers are now responsible for more than just keeping things running smoothly — they’re also responsible for helping organizations achieve their goals through new initiatives like diversity training or increasing engagement through programs such as job rotation that allow employees to learn new skills.
Managers have a big impact on employee retention and engagement — but only if they’re engaged themselves. That’s according to recent Gallup data, which found that only one in 10 managers are engaged in their work. And they’re not alone: Only 35 percent of employees are engaged at work either.
During a crisis or upheaval — such as the COVID-19 pandemic — things can change across an organization quickly. Middle managers have an important role to play that is often lost and forgotten.
Millennial and Gen Z employees are quickly becoming the dominant generations in the workplace, and they need more than just pay and benefits — they want an environment where they can learn and develop skills that align with their values. They want a supportive culture, which requires managers who will demonstrate and provide patience, emotional support, training, coaching — and yes — even playtime!
Middle managers play a crucial role in fostering employee engagement, but they often lack the training that would enable them to do so. According to a study by The Conference Board, only 19 percent of middle managers receive training in leadership and management. This can have a significant impact on workplace culture: Managers who receive no training in coaching and team development tend to harbor unproductive behaviors such as micromanaging, providing inadequate feedback and focusing on weaknesses instead of strengths.
By contrast, those who are trained in coaching techniques can develop into mentors who help their direct reports adopt strong communication skills and become more self-sufficient. They also learn how to be active listeners and meet their direct report’s needs. Focused training on these types of leadership topics can help middle managers create an environment where employees feel valued and engaged — which ultimately leads to increased productivity, retention rates and bottom-line results for organizations.
The middle manager role is vital to the success of organizations in 2023, so senior leaders need and must invest in this pivotal group’s professional development. This shouldn’t be your traditional manager’s leadership program — it should be something that they engage with as part of their daily work, not something they have to do in addition. Remember, these managers are overworked and burnt out. Adding lengthy training programs will only exacerbate their challenges.
The solution?
A growing learning modality that has increased in recent years is nano-learning. It is a way to deliver condensed information in an engaging format by providing soundbites or sentences of valuable and relevant content via platforms like Tik Tok, Twitter or YouTube. According to Joseph Rene Corbeil’s book “Microlearning in the Digital Age,” 90 percent of employees welcome a nano-learning approach compared to 72 percent for video training and as content length becomes shorter, employee preference increases.
When juggling multiple issues and challenges in a day, it can be difficult to find the time to sit down and take a thirty-minute e-learning course. It’s even harder when the training is boring and drawn out, so when it comes to learning, middle managers are in a bind. They need to get up to speed on new ideas, tools and processes quickly — but they don’t always have time.
That’s why there’s been a growing trend toward ditching the drawn-out e-learning modules and focusing instead on just-in-time resources like toolbox resources. These resources are focused on providing content, worksheets and informational brochures on popular challenges, ideas and processes that middle managers need immediately when they need them.
For example, let’s say that you’re a manager who needs to provide difficult feedback to an employee. You could dip into an online toolbox which contains an infographic on how to have that difficult conversation. Easy to read and access, this kind of learning is valuable as it follows Knowle’s Basic Andragogical Principles including immediate application, internal motivation and need-to-know learning. Just-in-time learning libraries give our middle managers the power to access development opportunities when they want and need them, which is the very definition of good corporate learning theory.
Middle management encounters the most employees, external vendors and customers. The ability to read people and their state of mind and give them tools to explore their untapped potential and thoughts is paramount to managing them efficiently and for the long term. Coupled with a coaching culture, middle managers will create a nurturing environment by unlocking the potential of their teams, driving performance and creating a culture where everyone thrives.
The benefits for organizations that focus on supporting the transitioning nature of their middle managers’ responsibilities are endless. Not only will they be empowering their most powerful group of influencers to succeed, they will also be building a culture that is steeped in support and development, two areas important to the largest employee groups: Millennials and Gen Z. Nano learning and just-in-time learning are also cost-effective, easy to implement and immediately valuable.
Times are changing, and so are traditional roles in the workforce. L&D teams must support and treasure this group, which has often been forgotten by leaders. Middle managers are the next generation of C-suite — we need to value their development like it’s our own.
