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Lack of manager training can lead to employee loss
Here’s what happens. People are good at their jobs, so they get promoted into managerial roles. It’s presumed that a hot-shot widget sales pro can easily manage others doing that same job.
But managing people requires a unique set of skills, and when managers don’t get trained properly, things go sideways. As the saying goes: People don’t quit bad jobs, they quit bad bosses.
“Organizations like Gallup track ‘engagement scores’ — do people like where they work? do they think their manager cares about their development?” said Mark Myette. A talent development coach and founding principal of ECC, Inc., he instructs leadership and management training at Emory Continuing Education.
“When you look at engagement scores today, only about 30 people out of a hundred are actually looking forward to go to work on Monday,” he said. Often, that’s because they aren’t getting the kind of oversight they need.
By some estimates, fully 50- to 60% of all first-time managers receive no formal training in their new roles. “Only 48% of managers strongly agree that they currently have the skills needed to be exceptional at their job,” Gallup reports.
“They receive little training on best practices in employee engagement and performance development,” Gallup reports. “And they are often on their own when it comes to identifying their team’s strengths and coaching them with those strengths in mind.”
In a tight labor market, this has a strong negative impact. Some 84% of workers noted that “poorly trained people managers create a lot of unnecessary work and stress,” according to a 2020 Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) survey. And 57% said they had “left a job because of their manager,” according to HR consulting firm DDI.
Lack of management training can impact the business in other ways. “It’s not only disengaged employees, but worse — disengaged customers,” Myette said. “If a manager is not effective in their leadership, if they are not effective in helping and coaching their team, that has really negative repercussions through the customer experience.”
The good news: Those skills are teachable. Through its Leadership and Management program, Emory Continuing Education offers a range of highly relevant courses:
Essentials of Leadership for Managers — This interactive workshop helps supervisors and managers build the skills they need to be effective leaders and explore their own leadership potential.
Supervising Effectively — Learners explore key behaviors of effective leaders, critical elements of motivation, and the crucial steps of efficient delegation, along with tools and techniques to efficiently address performance and communication challenges.
Strategic Communications in the Workplace— This course develops the skills to read other people and see how others interpret their behaviors, helping participants adapt their communication styles in a way that creates an enduring working alliance among team members and fosters a deeper sense of organizational engagement.
Delegate to Improve Personal and Team Performance — Many managers struggle with turning over tasks or authority. This course explores the benefits and barriers to delegation, the importance of authority and responsibility, as well as strategies and tools for implementing delegation.
Leading Through Change — All of us respond to change differently. We don't start at the same level, adapt at the same pace, or end up in the same place. In this course, learners acquire the skills needed to manage effectively in an ever-changing business environment.
Overall, good management starts with self-awareness. “People need to understand not only how others are wired and how that might show up on good days and bad days. They also need to appreciate how they themselves are wired,” Myette said. “With training, a manager gets a window into themselves, and that self-awareness helps them to work effectively with their team.”
While there are any number of books on how to be a better manager, Myette said the continuing education environment is an ideal place to pursue this kind of learning. “These Emory programs create a sense of community,” he said.
“Some people are better at communication, others are better at delegating, or handling conflict,” he said. The continuing education instructors “draw out people's individual insights or experiences. Then when that session's over, people get together to share their specific strengths. That sense of community can be really powerful in helping a manager to grow their skill set.”
Contact the Emory team about the training mentioned here and other training options.
But managing people requires a unique set of skills, and when managers don’t get trained properly, things go sideways. As the saying goes: People don’t quit bad jobs, they quit bad bosses.
“Organizations like Gallup track ‘engagement scores’ — do people like where they work? do they think their manager cares about their development?” said Mark Myette. A talent development coach and founding principal of ECC, Inc., he instructs leadership and management training at Emory Continuing Education.
“When you look at engagement scores today, only about 30 people out of a hundred are actually looking forward to go to work on Monday,” he said. Often, that’s because they aren’t getting the kind of oversight they need.
By some estimates, fully 50- to 60% of all first-time managers receive no formal training in their new roles. “Only 48% of managers strongly agree that they currently have the skills needed to be exceptional at their job,” Gallup reports.
“They receive little training on best practices in employee engagement and performance development,” Gallup reports. “And they are often on their own when it comes to identifying their team’s strengths and coaching them with those strengths in mind.”
In a tight labor market, this has a strong negative impact. Some 84% of workers noted that “poorly trained people managers create a lot of unnecessary work and stress,” according to a 2020 Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) survey. And 57% said they had “left a job because of their manager,” according to HR consulting firm DDI.
Lack of management training can impact the business in other ways. “It’s not only disengaged employees, but worse — disengaged customers,” Myette said. “If a manager is not effective in their leadership, if they are not effective in helping and coaching their team, that has really negative repercussions through the customer experience.”
The good news: Those skills are teachable. Through its Leadership and Management program, Emory Continuing Education offers a range of highly relevant courses:
Essentials of Leadership for Managers — This interactive workshop helps supervisors and managers build the skills they need to be effective leaders and explore their own leadership potential.
Supervising Effectively — Learners explore key behaviors of effective leaders, critical elements of motivation, and the crucial steps of efficient delegation, along with tools and techniques to efficiently address performance and communication challenges.
Strategic Communications in the Workplace— This course develops the skills to read other people and see how others interpret their behaviors, helping participants adapt their communication styles in a way that creates an enduring working alliance among team members and fosters a deeper sense of organizational engagement.
Delegate to Improve Personal and Team Performance — Many managers struggle with turning over tasks or authority. This course explores the benefits and barriers to delegation, the importance of authority and responsibility, as well as strategies and tools for implementing delegation.
Leading Through Change — All of us respond to change differently. We don't start at the same level, adapt at the same pace, or end up in the same place. In this course, learners acquire the skills needed to manage effectively in an ever-changing business environment.
Overall, good management starts with self-awareness. “People need to understand not only how others are wired and how that might show up on good days and bad days. They also need to appreciate how they themselves are wired,” Myette said. “With training, a manager gets a window into themselves, and that self-awareness helps them to work effectively with their team.”
While there are any number of books on how to be a better manager, Myette said the continuing education environment is an ideal place to pursue this kind of learning. “These Emory programs create a sense of community,” he said.
“Some people are better at communication, others are better at delegating, or handling conflict,” he said. The continuing education instructors “draw out people's individual insights or experiences. Then when that session's over, people get together to share their specific strengths. That sense of community can be really powerful in helping a manager to grow their skill set.”
Contact the Emory team about the training mentioned here and other training options.