Over the last couple of years, many aspects of management have changed, creating new challenges and requiring new skills, making the bar of being an effective manager that much harder to reach. The sheer volume of obstacles those in management face is nothing like they’ve experienced before, and unfortunately, many managers are ready to throw in the towel. It was recently uncovered that managers are two times more likely than individual contributors to seek a new role.
Organizations are taking note that their management needs help. That may be why Gartner found the top business priority in 2023 for over 800 HR leaders across 60 countries is to increase their leader and manager effectiveness. This focus on management effectiveness ranked higher than change management, employee experience, recruiting, and the future of work.
If you feel like being an effective manager is more challenging in 2023, these may be some of the reasons why.
An obstacle no industry or function is immune to is the current challenge of hiring and retaining talent. Effective management becomes near impossible without the right people in the right roles. According to the 2022 State of the Manager Report, managers' top two challenges are retaining talent (22.6%) and hiring talent (21%). Regularly reviewing employee talent and aligning individuals with their strengths can play a crucial role in overcoming these challenges.
Employee engagement, which the experts Gallup say is critical to “productivity, morale, development, and retention of every organization’s workforce,” continues to drop, adding to the mix of obstacles management faces in 2023. Gallup explains, “By early 2022, U.S. employee engagement slumped to a seven-year low, with 32% of employees engaged and 17% actively disengaged at work. The slump continued throughout 2022 as engagement levels remained relatively unchanged.“
As leaders and organizations struggled with pressing challenges over the last few years, development opportunities, promotions, and performance management were forced to take a backseat. Unfortunately, this has only exacerbated the challenges leaders face regarding employee retention. According to a report from Humu in 2022, it was found that when employees do not have a line of sight to growth opportunities, they’re 7.9x more likely to leave their company.
Amplifying the issue is many managers need to gain the knowledge and skill to support the development of their employees beyond granting promotions. For instance, it was uncovered in 2022 that 47% of new managers need help with giving feedback, coaching, and career conversations.
Managers find themselves stuck between the policies set and employees' expectations, putting them in an unenviable position. They’re trying to navigate corporate decisions on how much autonomy and flexibility employees have in where their work is completed against the expectations of their team.
Today, employees are no longer accepting new policies and demands on them like they once did. Instead, they’re standing up and pushing back. For instance, Qualtrics found in their Employee Experience Trends 2023 report that work-life balance is no longer a nice to have; it is a must. As such, employees are redefining their relationship with work and reexamining their boundaries with it too.
The challenges managers face when there is a misalignment between company policies and employee expectations can be insurmountable and significantly impact productivity, motivation, and engagement. In the same report, Qualtics uncovered that of employees who agreed they had the right work-life balance, 63% said they were willing to go above and beyond, whereas it was only 29% for those who rated their work-life balance as poor.
One would think after the initial shock from the events in 2020 our collective stress levels would be on the decline. However, it was found the opposite has happened. According to Gallup’s 2022 Global Workplace Report, stress among the world’s workers had reached an all-time high, with 44% of employees agreeing that they experienced a lot of daily stress the previous day. This creates new challenges as those in management wrestle with their own stress while trying to help others.
Employees and management alike are just plain exhausted from constant change and disruption. With this, they’re also becoming more resistant to change. According to Gartner, in 2016, 74% of employees were willing to change their work behaviors to support organizational changes; however, by 2022, that number dropped to 38%. Of course, change has always been difficult, but given the fallout of constant change and uncertainty, those leading change initiatives face new obstacles in getting employee buy-in, support, and willingness to change.
With the velocity of change experienced while trying to lead through VUCA, it’s no surprise many in management feel a lack of confidence in their abilities as their once sufficient leadership skills are now dated with the new challenges they face. The old leadership playbook no longer works in the new management reality.
Leaders and HR teams agree that upskilling is needed with a focus on new competency development. Gartner’s HR Top Priorities 2023 report explains why: “Today’s work environment requires leaders to be more authentic, empathetic and adaptive. These three imperatives represent a new call for leadership - ‘human” leadership." That's why 60% of HR leaders are prioritizing leader development in 2023 to help their managers gain the human leadership competencies they need. In addition, many HR leaders re-evaluate their approach to leadership development, with 24% of HR leaders agreeing that their current approach does not prepare leaders for the future of work.
Gartner goes on to explain two key ways organizations can relieve pressure on management.