7 in 10 managers feel undervalued or underpaid, while half of managerial staff intend to quit their role within the next year. These are worrying figures for HR professionals. To get to the bottom of why managers feel this way, Dr Ashley Prisant, Harvard University has assisted in research by TalentLMS in order to get to the facts behind the figures.
There are a number of concerning findings, including:
- 1 in 2 managers are thinking about leaving their company in the next 12 months
- 7 in 10 say they feel undervalued and underpaid
- 43% feel isolated at work after they became managers
- 61% say that the number one reason they stay is that they work well with the people they manage
Dr Ashley Prisant, Instructor of leadership, business, and human resources, Harvard Extension School, explained, “Should others be taking care of managers? Are they doing enough to take care of themselves? A lot of people say, ‘my senior people don’t support me’, but they do nothing to improve their own world."
The question of happiness at work is as old as the HR profession and a puzzle that may never be fully solved. However, modern times require a modern outlook and talent welfare is high on the agenda for most organisations. We learned recently, during our Cornerstone OnDemand event, that talent needs motivation and encouragement in order to be most successful and productive for the company. Heidi Spirgi, Chief Marketing and Strategy Officer, Cornerstone OnDemand told us, “People deserve a better experience than they often have at organisations,” with this sentiment reflected in the statistics.
The purpose behind this research then, is to investigate how companies can take better care of their top performers and prevent them from leaving. Ana Casic, Media Relations at TalentLMS, elaborated, “We also wanted to look into whether new managers are getting managerial training that will help them with the challenges of a new demanding role. It turns out that employers aren't delivering, as 1 in 4 managers never received any management training at all." This, again, fits into what we were told by Spirgi when she said, “We need to re-tool the workforce. We transformed technology, but we left the people behind.” Training is leaving people feeling uncertain, unprepared and ultimately unhappy.
Training is just one part of the puzzle, but even unhappy talents stay in their current roles. The problem with this is that dissatisfied staff tend to be less productive and could add to an unhelpful working culture. But, if people are unhappy, why do they stay? The research reveals that 61% of managers stay because they work well with the people they manage. Alongside this, ‘having freedom and authority to make decisions’ and ‘the right amount of work-life balance’ were the second and third most popular answers, respectively.
Managers are usually the people that staff turn to when they have problems at work. There will inevitably be times when those managers also need someone to turn to, and it turns out that they also turn to their own managers for guidance. Over a third of survey respondents said that they turn to their manager when they feel overwhelmed. A quarter said they turned to a co-worker who was also a friend, whilst 7% admitted that they had nobody to rely on. This latter group presents a worrying statistic as having no one to turn to in times of stress and feeling overwhelmed can lead to burnout and isolation. Of this group of isolated managers, three-quarters of them have intentions to leave their company within the next year, making them a high-risk group for HR teams dealing with retention and staff welfare. These same people also admitted that they were happier before they became managers (51%) and that isolation started after their promotion (62%).
Going back to the original premise that half of all managers intend to leave, it is important to know if these people are new to management or have a lot of experience. The statistics show us that, within this group of intended leavers, only 37% are new to the role or have less than three years experience. Those at greater risk of leaving are the ones with five or more years in a managerial role. When questioned, these managers brought the conversation back to training with 92% saying it was important, but only 41% say that they had received training of any kind within the last month. One in four managers stated that they had never received any form of managerial training at all, either before or after getting promoted. 76% of those questioned wanted more training and development opportunities.
The solution, according to TalentLMS, when looking at the research, comes in a few different forms. HR teams need to develop talent retention plans that take into account the feedback seen here and reflect the needs of their talent. That means communicating with your talent and directly asking them what they want. Many of those surveyed for this research gave their views and the top three areas they want to see improved are:
- harmonious relationships at work—first with the team and then with upper management;
- a culture based on inclusion; and
- being more involved in strategy and decisions.
As ever, the modern worker wants a greater focus on human relationships. It does not seem to be all about pay and benefits. ‘Better training’, ‘more frequent development opportunities’, ‘positive workplace culture’ and ‘being listened to’ come up time and again as factors that would improve retention. There is still time to save your best managers from leaving. Take the opportunity to improve the environment for everyone and retention figures may not look so disappointing in the future.
Paul Arkwright
Publisher
