Study Finds Employee Engagement Linked to Management Ability

We all know good managers can be hard to find but a study by Gallup has shown that “bad managers cost businesses billions of dollars each year” causing a lack of employee engagement, underproductivity, absenteeism, and low morale.

Their analytics go so far as to state that companies are failing to choose the right management candidate up to 82% of the time, but with the right manager in place, companies can raise customer satisfaction, increase efficiency and production, in fact, they can improve on every facet of their organization.

So, how do you find a great manager?

According to Gallup, naturally great managers are pretty rare, with only 1 in 10 people having all the natural talents needed to make a good leader.

However, they also state that another 2 in 10 people have some innate propensity for leadership which can be nurtured with additional training and development.

Of the other 7 out of 10 people, some will have a degree of leadership talent which would require much training and development to ensure they fulfil their role satisfactorily, but some may have such little natural managerial ability that they should (perhaps) step down to make way for a manager who has a greater propensity for the role.

What are Natural Management Abilities?

The same Gallup study showed that managers account for at least “70% variance in employee engagement scores across business units” and that performance metrics fluctuate “widely and unnecessarily” in most companies due to managers lacking the required skills and training to lead their teams successfully.

Choosing the right manager for your business and ensuring they receive the right level of training, development, and support within their role, is vital to the success of your company.

With only one third of managers having the natural managerial abilities required to lead others, it is essential we understand what these are, and how to recognize them in our teams, so that the right people are promoted for the role.

Good managers have the following natural abilities in abundance:

• Good relationship builders – form open, trusting relationships with full transparency

• Promote a culture of clear accountability

• Decisive – based on productivity, not workplace politics

• Motivation and drive – encourage action and maintain engagement with employees through their passion and vision

• Resilient – the ability to overcome adversity, promoting the desired outcome and encouraging their team to strive for better

• Supportive – encouraging and empowering their team to work autonomously by giving reliable and continual access to advice, resources, and tools required to complete the task

However, many managers may have some of these abilities yet they’re unsure of how to utilise them within the workplace, which is where training and professional development can really help encourage managers to become the best leaders they can be.

Training and Professional Development for Managers

Many companies seem to promote employees to managerial positions as they feel they have ‘earnt’ it through their previous efforts within the company.

However, while these employees may be excellent at sales, engineering, IT, or within their previous role, many of them will have little or no experience of managing teams.

And, while they may also have some latent ability to lead (unless you are lucky enough to have promoted that 1 in 10 with natural managerial ability) they will need support for their new role in terms of training and professional development to ensure you get the best out of them.

Training those in managerial positions to make the most of their natural talents, and to encourage a particular quality, is possible, especially with the right training provider and the best courses.

At Creative Word Training, we have helped create exceptional leaders for almost two decades and offer the following courses designed to promote managerial excellence:

• Coaching Masterclass Part 1 and Part 2

• How to act like a Leader• Mindful Leadership – Fit to Lead

• Resilience for Times of Change and Challenge

• Growing your Team to High Performance 

• Cultural Intelligence

A company which invests in its managers will reap the rewards, and increasing the number of talented managers thus doubling the rate of engaged employees will, on average, produce “147% higher earnings per share than their competition” according to Gallup.

Sufficient management talent exists within every company, it is down to you to find it, train it and use it!

Contact the team at Creative Word Training now for more information on how we can help your managers achieve greatness and encourage employee engagement.