How to improve manager effectiveness for the future of work

The Manager’s role is complex, requiring a combination of technical skills, leadership abilities, and effective people management. Managers are responsible for setting goals, managing resources, and coordinating activities to achieve the desired outcomes. They often serve as the bridge between leadership and frontline employees and play a crucial role in the success of any organisation.

For these very reasons, Gartner’s research found that leadership and manager development has been the number one HR priority for HR Leaders in 2024. However, the same survey found that 76% of HR leaders say their managers are overwhelmed by the growth of their job responsibilities, with 73% advising that leaders and managers aren’t equipped to lead the change they require for the business’s future success.

Managers need to be supported and equipped with the necessary skills and tools to navigate their roles effectively. As HR Leaders, it is your responsibility to help alleviate the stresses of a demanding role and provide Managers with the resources they need to succeed. But you also need to ensure that they demonstrate the behaviours that make them great leaders and influencers.

Research has identified nine high-trust leadership behaviours that shape positive employee experiences and drive business success. These behaviours include: listening, speaking, thanking, developing, caring, sharing, celebrating, inspiring, and hiring and welcoming.

Training Managers on these behaviours can involve leadership training programs, workshops, or one-on-one coaching sessions. But it is also about providing them with the tools to facilitate these behaviours on a daily basis. Here are some strategies that we have put together to help improve manager effectiveness and embed the successful leadership traits into everyday business.

Managers often set performance goals and expectations for their team members. They also have the responsibility of managing multiple tasks, projects, and priorities. Juggling all these can be overwhelming, and it is easy for managers to prioritise tasks based on urgency rather than importance, losing sight of the bigger picture.

You want your Managers to act as coaches to their team members, facilitating continuous feedback, goal setting, and meaningful conversations. But how can they effectively coach if they do not have the technology to provide them with real-time data to better understand their team member’s strengths and weaknesses?

Investing in a cutting edge performance management platform that allows to track and monitor employee progress, provide feedback and set goals can help Managers stay on top of their team’s performance while empowering them to be better leaders.

A platform where they can celebrate and recognise successes, develop employee career paths and recommend learnings to build specific skills in real-time, not just as part of an annual review process.

Essentially, giving managers the right tools will enable them to be more effective in guiding their team members towards achieving individual and organisational goals. This not only improves manager effectiveness, but it also creates a positive work culture that fosters trust, growth, and success.

Effective communication is crucial for any successful relationship, including the one between a Manager and their team members. Regular, open and transparent communication builds trust, strengthens relationships, and increases employee engagement.

Training in conflict resolution, active listening and building psychological safety within a team can equip Managers with the necessary skills to facilitate effective communication. But you also want to ensure they have the tools to communicate with their teams in a secure, safe and accessible platform. And communication in the land of the workplace means swift, accurate and time-sensitive information delivery.

For instance, a last-minute rota change has been made due to unplanned sickness. Team members and the managers need to be informed in real-time, as well as the need for an alternative arrangement. A platform that will alert and provide recommendations based on the workflow and skill availability will ease the stress of a quick (and accurate) decision.

Managers should be able to upload changes to projects, policies or processes, share updates about team achievements and goals, and provide necessary resources for learning and development opportunities. An HR platform with the ability to facilitate effective communication should help your Manager effectively by making their lives easier and one that can provide that level of support and agility to keep pace with the business.

Or, if we look at engagement surveys or pulse surveys. While yes, this is traditionally an HR imperative, democratising these insights for Managers via your HR software will provide them with the information they need to have meaningful conversations with team members and create targeted strategies to change the sentiment.

As HR, you set the standards and the guidance for managers to follow the recruitment and onboarding process. However, empowering your Managers with the right tools and capabilities can help improve their effectiveness in hiring top talent for their team is the next level.

By this, we mean going beyond integrating with all the largest candidate pools and recruitment sites or AI to screen candidates based on the set job-specific requirements or interview scheduling. Almost every HR platform in the market should have this capability.

We are talking about helping Managers find the right cultural fit for their team. A platform that can assess candidates based on cultural values and behaviours can help ensure that the new hire will thrive in the team environment, reducing turnover rates and increasing employee satisfaction.

With an integrated Generative AI model made for your HR platform, your managers can ask to create job descriptions, interview questions and job-related and cultural fit interview questions at the click of a button.

When onboarding new employees, they can also use the platform to develop custom onboarding plans, assign tasks, track progress, and provide necessary resources for a seamless transition into the team.

Hiring the best staff for each Manager’s team is crucial for their success and that of the organisation—but they can not do that without the right tools to help them make informed hiring decisions.

When it comes to employee complaints about payroll discrepancies or delays, the Manager is most likely the one who receives the brunt. This can be a frustrating experience for both the Manager and employee, as it disrupts the work environment and trust in the organisation. It can also be stressful and time-consuming for them to constantly follow up with HR or payroll to resolve these issues.

Firstly, payroll issues should not be a recurring problem. Your HR technology stack or HRIS platform should have a time and attendance tracking system—whether it has geo-tagging and fencing capabilities or not—to help ensure accurate logging of hours and minimal discrepancies. But when these issues do arise, your managers and employees should be able to access payroll information quickly and resolve any discrepancies with a few clicks and prompts.

This is where an HR platform with a Generative AI Large Language Model, such as ELLA, can help employees resolve their payroll issues through a chatbot that speaks to them in plain language, providing clarity and resolving the issue efficiently. This feature will reduce the burden on Managers and empower employees to take control of their payroll experience.

At the end of the day, effective Managers are those who feel empowered and supported. Providing them with the necessary tools and capabilities to effectively manage their team members improves Manager effectiveness and contributes to a positive company culture and employee satisfaction.

So invest in a comprehensive HR platform that can support your Managers in developing key behaviours, improving communication, hiring top talent, and eliminating payroll woes. It will lead to happier, more engaged employees and ultimately drive business success.

Want to find out more about how elemenstsuite can help empower your managers and improve overall employee engagement? Contact us today for a demo. We would also love to show you how our homegrown AI chatbot, ELLA, can transform your organisation.