Magic in the Middle: 5 Training Tips for Managers

Don’t underestimate the power of your middle managers. Success practically relies on them.

In fact, they’re pivotal to organizational success. And HR needs more training tips to keep them engaged, productive and at the top of their game.

How important is training for your middle managers? Consider this: 92% of HR executives say their people managers are critical to the entire organization’s success, according to the SHRM research report, “Effective People Managers: The Linchpin of Organizational Success.” More than 80% of the executives also agree that their front-line managers are critical to accomplishing strategic business goals.

“People managers are the heartbeat of any successful organization. Their leadership and ability to nurture talent are critical to our employees’ well-being and the overall health of our companies,” says Johnny C. Taylor Jr., SHRM-SCP, President and CEO of SHRM.

Managers’ Reach is Far

But it’s not just the top brass who recognizes that their middle managers are important to success. Employees say their boss has the biggest impact on their engagement and personal success at work.

The SHRM study found that employees who have highly effective managers are twice as likely to:

• be satisfied and fulfilled by their jobs
• feel valued in their organization
• have a strong sense of belonging where they work, and
• be deeply committed to their work, boss and organization.

Not Always Easy for Middle Managers

Even though managers are beloved for what they bring to organizational success and employee engagement and satisfaction, it’s not easy being in the middle.

Fifty-five percent of people managers often feel caught in that middle, having to jockey — and justify — between executive leadership’s strategic vision and the everyday realities their teams face. That affects their stress levels and performance.

Managers cited these everyday issues as the top challenges to their effectiveness:

• heavy workload (33%)
• balancing multiple responsibilities (22%)
• insufficient resources/budget constraints (20%)
• balancing competing priorities (20%), and
• employee turnover and retention (20%).

Professional Development Takes Backseat

So, your managers’ power is far reaching and that’s why they often feel overstretched. What’s more, they they aren’t as prepared as they’d like to be to lead teams and handle the pressures.

Almost a third of HR pros say their primary method to fill management positions is through internal promotions. Yet, just 30% of organizations have a formal onboarding process for internally promoted managers. And once they get in a routine of helping employees, putting out fires and answering to their superiors, these new managers struggle to engage in meaningful professional development.

“It’s crucial that we equip our people managers with the tools, training, and support they need to excel,” says Taylor. “When we invest in our managers, we invest in a brighter future for our entire organization.”

Training Tips for Managers

Here’s what’s most important to manager development, plus training tips for each subject.

• Institutional knowledge. Most managers are promoted from within, which suggests they have institutional knowledge. But that’s usually limited to their role and organizational structure as an employee. They still need to learn the nuances of management within your company. To help, try to pair them with a seasoned leader who can share management tips and hacks.
• Role expectations. New managers — and even some seasoned ones — don’t necessarily know their role when they’re made a leader. Some might think they’re in charge of everything (we call them micromanagers). Others might not realize how much they need to oversee and how little they need to do hands-on anymore. So, they need some training in role expectations — deciding and defining them. Certainly, they can look to what other leaders or the previous manager have done, but a better bet is to create a role expectation blueprint. It doesn’t have to be one-size-fits-all — after all, some employees need more oversight than others — but it can help managers and their teams create realistic and effective expectations.
• Structured goal and performance metrics. Internally promoted managers are doers. But they often don’t understand the impact of what they do on company-wide operations and goals. New managers need operational training, and all managers need regular updates on company objectives, performance metrics and changing needs. Work with top executives — the people who set objectives and the levels of performance needed to meet them — to train front-line managers quarterly on the newest goals and performance metrics. They don’t need to sit in every executive meeting, but they need to understand what goes on and the implications of hitting or missing goals.
• Performance and project management. Managers these days usually touch many software applications to manage projects and people — everything from communication to payroll tools. Managing the software and all the data it needs and holds can be a job itself. But the better they understand how to maximize their tools, the more effectively they can use those to lead people and projects. Set up regular training with vendors — or even internal “super users” — who can help managers navigate tools quickly so administrative tasks don’t bury them.
• Soft skills. Ideally, managers have emotional intelligence that guides them through the often-thorny issues of managing and helping humans. But that doesn’t come naturally to many people. So, yes, managers need help honing their soft skills. Granted, they aren’t as easy to teach as hard, technical skills. But it’s still important to offer resources — self-guided training, online courses and/or in-person events — to help managers gain and refine soft skills, including:
  • communication habits
  • adaptability
  • decision-making
  • critical thinking, and
  • active listening.