INTHEBLACK June 2022 - Magazine - Page 56
F E AT U R E
// M I D D L E M A N A G E M E N T
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day-to-day tasks is not using their skills effectively.
hey have been lampooned by cartoonists for
“If leaders are not leading well, they’re not able to
decades and inspired some cringe-inducing
delegate down, which means they end up working
office-based TV comedies, but is it really fair
down. And that squeezes the people underneath them
that middle managers cop such a bad rap?
and they get pushed further down into the weeds,” says
The reality is, a properly trained, high-performing
Marshall. “That doesn’t benefit the business at all.”
middle manager is essential to keeping the wheels
Trusting and respecting middle managers
turning and the team on track. They can drive
empowers them to do their job, which in turn
engagement, improve productivity and reduce the
helps them promote those traits to their teams.
amount of burnout across the organisation, argues
Rebecca Houghton, organisational expert and founder Offering development opportunities to improve
communication and decision-making skills will have
of BoldHR.
a flow-on effect throughout the business.
“For a long time, middle management really had a
“Development really is a critical strategy to engaging
reputation for being paper-pushers and not adding
any value – they were the fat cats sitting in the middle and retaining staff. And not just those middle
managers, but everybody underneath them. If you’re
not doing much. But that has largely been stripped
not doing good development in
out of organisations over the years,
that role, you’re probably going
and the nature of the value they
to have high turnover,” says
can add has changed.”
Marshall.
Houghton refers to middle
“Senior leaders
Houghton says not only will
managers as the B-Suite and
should really be
people leave if there are no
says, viewed in a different way,
development opportunities,
they are a powerful force in any
looking to hand over
but that providing avenues for
organisation – and rather than
development help brings teams
adding an unnecessary layer of fat,
the quality
together.
they can keep a business on track
standards of the
“Sometimes you wish you
and in profit.
could clone a good manager.
“For medium to small
organisation to the
So, make them responsible
businesses, the value is that you’ve
B-Suite, and be
for claiming their own success
got a group of people who are
and creating more capable
very experienced. They’re not
confident in their
workers like themselves. To do
new people leaders, they’ve been
abilities – because
that, they’ll be doing a lot of
around the block a few times and
coaching, expectation-setting
they know what they’re doing.
they are the subject
and skills-building, which knits
Senior leaders should really be
matter experts.”
cultures together. That is a lot of
looking to hand over the quality
value add, which means that the
standards of the organisation to
REBECCA HOUGHTON, BOLDHR
business owner can step away
the B-Suite, and be confident in
from that intensive day-to-day
their abilities – because they are
stuff,” says Houghton.
the subject matter experts,” says Houghton.
Stepping away from daily tasks can be difficult for
some newly appointed senior leaders, she says, but it
BUSINESS BENEFITS OF EMPOWERING
is worth it for the direction of the business.
MANAGERS
“Sometimes a CEO might still be in that subject
Empowering middle management brings several
matter expert mode, but actually need to be running
benefits, regardless of the size of your business, says
the whole business. But people tend to lean on the
Anna Marshall, author and founder of People Mastery.
things they’re most familiar with, which means that
Providing middle management leaders with
they’ll want to do the coaching and the training and
the opportunity to delegate is crucial, she says. If
the development. That’s fine when you’re a team of
they have permission to allocate work tasks and
five, but it’s absolutely untenable when you’re a team
concentrate on strategic thinking, the business will be
of 25, 55 or 105.
more likely to flourish. Keeping them responsible for
56 ITB June 2022