Consider the case of Julia, a highly qualified recent graduate who interviewed at two investment firms. They, far more than their higher-ups or their colleagues in HR, can craft individualized working arrangements that will enhance recruitment, retention, and diversity while facilitating high-value work. Middle managers can make a huge difference in a firm’s ability to attract talent. They want their employers to participate in their development, and they want more control over what they do and when and where they do it. They want to join a team that’s caring, trustworthy, interesting, high performing, and fun. They want to understand how a prospective job would fit into the organization’s strategy and align with their personal purpose. Research by our firm and others has found that people are looking for more than a good salary. The manager is “the person that believes in you-that sees you can do more than what you’re doing,” she explained. Building a strong managerial pipeline is essential, Lorraine Stomski, Walmart’s senior vice president of enterprise leadership and learning, told Harvard Business School’s Joseph Fuller in a podcast episode. Its Walmart Academy provides instruction and on-the-job coaching to prepare associates for supervisory positions, and its Live Better U program offers free classes and training in areas including cybersecurity, business administration, supply chain management, and logistics-all in anticipation of skills associates will need going forward. The world’s largest private employer, Walmart, has recognized the importance of rebundling in the face of rapidly changing technologies and consumer preferences. Smart organizations will deputize middle managers to pull apart and reassemble the pieces of affected jobs. Although such redesigns may be broadly shaped at headquarters, the details can be defined and carried out only by those with firsthand knowledge of what happens on the ground. Responding to increasing automation.Īs algorithms and machines take over tasks from humans, companies will be engaged in what we call the Great Rebundling: finding ways to reconfigure employees’ work. If freed from those demands, they can take the lead in several areas critical to the 21st-century workplace. In survey after survey those managers report being mired in bureaucratic and individual contributor work. Many companies don’t know how to make the most of their middle managers-the people at least one level away from both the front line and senior leadership. When we compared that information with the firms’ financial results, we found that companies whose managers excelled on human capital metrics had high returns on invested capital (28%), were four times as likely as their peers were to have superior long-term financial performance, and experienced more sustained revenue growth during the pandemic. We also examined their McKinsey Organizational Health Index scores, which are based on an analysis of organizational performance outcomes (such as employee motivation and an inclusive work environment) and management practices (such as employee empowerment and bottom-up innovation). We studied HR data on 1,700 global companies-for example, figures on attrition, hours of training, and internal mobility. Instead of eliminating them or relegating them to administrative and individual contributor work, companies should reassess their responsibilities, push to more fully understand their value, and then develop, coach, and inspire them to realize their potential as organizational linchpins.Īll that may sound like a tall order, but leaders can’t afford not to take those steps, as we learned when we recently explored the economic impact of investing in the development of human capital-including the critical management layer. If middle managers are to fulfill this promise, though, leaders must reimagine their roles and give them the training and support they need. They’re the glue that holds teams and enterprises together, fostering the inclusion and psychological safety individuals and groups need to thrive. They can make work more meaningful, interesting, and productive, and true organizational transformation can occur only with their involvement. The problem is, middle managers-positioned close to the ground but not too close-are essential to helping businesses navigate rapid, complex change. Over the past several years of advising clients and researching workforce trends, we’ve seen that this vital organizational layer often gets severely depleted. Cutting such jobs hastily or too deeply can be a costly mistake. In recent months, amid signs that the economy might be softening, many companies announced layoffs aimed at curbing expenses, with middle management a common target.
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