If it’s the managers’ fault: train them!

According to research by Gallup, in 2024 manager engagement fell from 30% to 27%.

As we’ve seen previously, employee engagement is directly influenced by their managers. It’s The Role-Model Scenario.


The report suggests three ways to battle against this.

1. “Ensure all managers receive training to cut extreme manager
   disengagement in half”

We find it disappointing, but not surprising that globally, only 44% of managers say they have had training.

As the report says, even the most basic management-role responsibilities training can prevent them “feeling like they are drowning”.


What hits us here is that there are organisations that must be okay with having leaders and managers feeling that they cannot cope. How can that be productive?


Our suggestions:

*Leaders and managers need precise expectations, clearly set out and understood by all parties.

*Executive level personnel should make their expectations of the middle layer clear from the outset and stick to them. Any shifts must be discussed.

Also, senior staff must make it clear what lower levels can expect of them.

Get these approaches right, and trust will be built. Ignore them and more leaders and managers will feel like they are drowning.

     2. “Teach managers effective coaching techniques to boost manager performance  by 20 to 28%”.  

Good to see that the report says that training managers to be effective coaches is possible.
 
But there is more to this than you might expect.
 
Let’s make no mistake. The type of coaching that we expect the line managers in our organisations to do is different to having an external coach.
 
As a manager-coach, you will have skin in the same game as your coachee. You will be looking to achieve the same organisational goals, and it is highly likely that any successes and failures of your team can be attributed to your actions somewhere along the line.


The influence of bias and personal reputation protection can have a massive impact.
Our suggestions:

*Look within your organisation for colleagues who are effective coaches. They may or may not have accredited coaching qualifications. Indeed, some of the best coaches we know are pretty much self-taught.

*Consider training them up to deliver their approach to other colleagues. If they are not confident trainers, then look for programmes that will elevate those particular skills.
*We have clients who send one member of the team on a training course and ask them to cascade the training through the organisation.

This is very cost-effective and will naturally have your organisation’s values running through the content.

​Here is where good team-building skills are a benefit. Knowing your team members is at the heart of manager-coach role. And it’s at the heart of coaching too.

3) “Increase manager wellbeing by 32% through ongoing manager development
[…] and someone at work actively encourages their development, manager
thriving increases even further to 50%”

This has been the cornerstone of our work for decades. We work with people who are keen to develop professionally and generally they have the support of their bosses.

A key part is recognition of a job well done.

A middle manager been on a course to improve their budget prioritising skills? Give them the recognition they deserve.

Our suggestions:
 
Saying “well done!” is fine. For many of us it can be enough. But let’s take it a step further. Give that team member a chance to apply the new skills in a way that will motivate others to want to do the same.
 
An effective way of doing this is delegation.
 
By delegating new budget responsibilities to your colleague, you will be openly recognising their new skills, motivating them to carry on with their development and encouraging others to look for opportunities to improve their skillset.
 
But be careful, delegation is a tricky area! You need to get it right.
 
 
 
One of the suggestions is teaching managers effective coaching techniques. This can boost manager performance from 20 to 28%.
 
This reflects the views of Bhandarker and Singh in Global Leadership Perspectives. They report that millennials in India prefer their bosses to be coaches and mentors rather than having a hierarchical mindset.

This is something we see increasingly across all generations.
 
If we put this together with HRDrive’s piece ‘3 in 5 employers say soft skills are more important than ever’ and Gallup’s assertion that 44% of managers have had no leadership training, then surely it is easy to see a route into solving falling engagement.

Train leaders how to be effective coaches.

As HR professionals you know you have a critical role in equipping leaders within your organisation with right skills: coaching skills in this case.

​But never assume that the leaders and managers you work alongside know how to coach.
If you’ve never been shown how to coach, then it’s difficult to know what questions to ask.

Imagine what it must be like for a colleague to be told to ‘Be a Coach’ and they have no idea where to start.

With AI, the ‘what’ to ask is easy to find. Yes, there are many books and websites, but now the right prompt can immediately give you a list of questions to suggest. We’ve tried it.

As expected, the list is generic, but refining the prompts will get it to fit your organisation’s profile.

But, as noted above, it will be the soft ‘how’ to ask skills that need more guidance from the experienced professional like yourself.

Let’s be clear. The type of coaching that we expect the line managers in our organisations to do is different to having an external coach.

As a manager-coach, you will have skin in the same game as your coachee. You will be looking to achieve the same organisational goals and it is highly likely that any successes and failures of your team can be attributed to your actions somewhere along the line.

This is a completely different scenario and one we all want to get right.

The cost of recognised coaching courses with certification can be expensive. This is often cited as a reason for not sending people on them. Also, there is a lot of work (rightly!) for colleagues aiming for accreditation.

This is a workload issue that can be off-putting.

However, you can get your colleagues trained to an effective level by

1. using AI for coming up with list of questions
2. looking for books on coaching that take you into the psychology of ‘how’ to be effective
3. setting up your own in-house accreditation

I have found Bob Thomson’s First steps in Coaching a valuable source.

He talks about how to ask questions and notes how important your tone of voice is.

The Complete Handbook of Coaching by Elaine Cox, Tatiana Bachrikova and Daniel Clutterbuck is pretty much what the title says.

They get deep into the details.

Investigate GROW and OSCAR models, Solution-Focused and Person-Centred Approach to coaching amongst others. If you have a coaching background and have found a particular method effective, show your colleagues how to do this.

By exploring these resources, you can help colleagues become good manager-coaches. Without having to go on expensive, time-consuming accredited courses they will see advice such as:

**Build a genuine rapport: This helps the coachee to trust that you will bring your expertise to the situation so that they will benefit.

**Reframing responses: “I’m absolutely rubbish at that!” can be met with “Your high standards and focus on improvement is outstanding”.
 
If you want to get the best from this method, you might like to talk to us about effective in-house training strategies.
​
But the main thing is to react to the report and its suggestions. Get your managers trained to be effective manager-coaches and see your engagement blossom.
 
 
 
Bhandarker and Singh (2018) Global Leadership Perspectives. Sage. P103