Research Paints The Image Of A Great Manager To Be In Short Supply

We hear people say that great managers are few and far between. Less than 10% of the American workforce possesses the talent to be a great manager, according to Gallup’s State of the American Manager Report. Disengaged and uncaring managers are the biggest reasons for low job retention and high turnover. Bad managers, in fact, have even been partly blamed for The Great Resignation. Are managers getting a bum rap? Or are they a diamond in the rough? A 2022 study by Zety asked over 1,000 Americans, “What Makes a Great Manager?”

• A whopping 65% of the respondents said a great manager should care about them on a personal level. The larger the company, the more important it was for managers to care about the personal matters of employees. The older the employee, the less important this was.
• More than 75% stated that their manager was mindful of their work-life balance.
• Over 90% said a great manager should value their opinion even if it differed from the manager’s own. In other words, being listened to, not just being heard, was important to a huge majority.
• Over 85% admitted that good managers spend as much time as necessary to clearly communicate individual and team objectives even if the time spent explaining bled into their own managerial work.

The Image Of A Great Manager

The overall image of a great manager had to do with interpersonal qualities, whereas technical skills ranked lower on the list. There were nine qualities that emerged from the study that respondents thought made a great manager.

• Listens to team members’ voices and factors them into his or her decisions
• Gives meaningful and balanced feedback
• Makes sure team members have enough autonomy to make decisions
• Cares about their subordinates’ work-life balance
• Is honest and trustworthy
• Has a positive attitude and a good sense of humor
• Supports the team members and has their back
• Has a clear vision for the team
• Is confident, displays strong leadership, interpersonal, and decision-making skills

Studies show that the expression of empathy is recognized as a pivotal leadership tool in today’s global market. The Zety survey validates those findings as well as the conclusions of Gallup’s State of the American Manager Report that there is a positive correlation between a manager’s personality and the well-being of employees. And overall female managers outshine their male coworkers at the skill of engaging employees. The report suggests that one of the biggest problems is companies still use outdated ideas to promote people into managerial roles based on an employee’s past experience or tenure, or they reward them with the manager position for their performance—not their talent for engagement.

“Organizations move people into managerial roles for the wrong reasons—and those decisions have serious repercussions,” the report concluded. “Miscast managers fail to engage employees and send high performers out the door. By focusing on talent, organizations can hire and develop more great managers and create cultures of excellence.”

The Gallup report found that a manager’s behaviors are tied to employment engagement. Disengaged managers create disengaged employees. So what do employees want from their managers? According to Gallup, “Managers who emphasize consistent and open communication, who help team members understand and set tasks and goals, and who emphasize strengths over weaknesses are more likely to increase the engagement of their team.”

Steps Managers Can Take To Support Employee Mental Health

As the pandemic drags on, it continues to have a significant impact on mental health and has deepened feelings of stress and burnout—especially in the workplace, as remote work left most employees without much separation between work and life. In fact, 1 out of every 5 of U.S. adults experienced high levels of psychological distress, such as anxiety and depression, when the pandemic entered its second year.

In the third year of the pandemic, managers can support employees who are struggling with their mental health, beyond just offering wellness stipends and mental health days. Laura Lee Gentry, Chief People Officer at Enboarder believes managers can help employees stay connected and maintain a small sense of normality during the current workplace uncertainties. She says it’s imperative that employers create a judgment-free environment where employees can communicate their health openly, communicate with their team on a regular basis and enable all employees to achieve their full potential in the workplace.

Providing mental health resources such as an Employee Assistance Program (EAP) can be an effective way to support employees who are struggling with their mental health. EAPs are designed to help employees with personal and work-related issues that can impact their job performance, physical and mental health and their overall emotional well-being. Working with the various resources of an EAP can help employees identify and address their mental health struggles before they become a genuine obstacle to their quality of life and performance. However, offering an EAP is only a small piece of the puzzle as EAP usage is below 10%. To increase their utilization, businesses have to remove the stigma surrounding EAPs, such as misunderstanding mental illness, and encourage employees to use them.

It’s also important to note that management plays a huge role in employee mental health in the workplace, especially when a whopping 84% of managers reported feeling only “somewhat” responsible for their employees’ struggles. Since managers are an employee's first point of contact, companies need to create HR programs that train managers and supervisors on how to spot common mental health conditions such as signs of stress and anxiety and how to approach and support employees who are showing these signs. This will create an open line of communication and build trust between managers and employees, which in turn will help reduce burnout and improve employee health, retention, productivity and performance.