The value of the mid manager
Over the years hands-on mid-level managers, often known as ‘doers’, have had their fair share of bad press.
But being a 'doer,' or having doers in your workforce that relish multiple day to day demands, simply getting on with things, is something that should be encouraged if we are to get UK GDP back on track.
Are you a doer?
You will know if you are a doer by looking at the style of work that suits your skills, expertise and own personal job satisfaction. Although most people wouldn’t appreciate being openly termed a doer, it is precisely these skills that companies need right now to really drive growth as we put the pandemic firmly behind us.
In recent times there have been many articles with conflicting views about the worth of mid-managers but even since the 1990s companies striving to be lean have cut out tiers of mid- management in an effort to reduce costs and streamline processes.
But this is not always a good thing and here’s why
Well-developed mid managers bring stability, professional ‘maturity' of attitude, leadership and development qualities and enable succession planning to take place internally.
We have seen the removal of many mid-managers leading to loss of operational control, increased 'fire-fighting' and lower quality standards.
Mid-manage roles are not for the faint-hearted – we have seen a shortage of functionally-skilled, high calibre people managers that can demonstrate that unflinching determination to do a great job.
During Covid business critical decisions had to be made quickly by agile Boards, investors of large corporates, SME’s and entrepreneurial start-ups alike which may have by-passed middle manager's input, raising a question by some again about the need for mid managers at all. However, in our role as search consultants, we have seen that market demand is proving the reverse of this. Mid managers have played an immense part in Covid in a different way playing to their strengths. They have been fully relied on (and still are) to ‘get on with it’ and really act with autonomy, fully utilising their own expertise often with minimal higher management support.
The resurgence of middle management
Mid managers act as the conduit and often translator between their team and the practical realities they are dealing with and managing the expectations and insight of the higher Board. A good mid manager will be flexible, patient and work with the constant changes necessary to get the job done, balancing often extreme diverse demands on their time.
Treat your mid managers well if you value them and develop your internal talent as a succession pipeline.
In the current market, if you fail on this basic objective you will lose good people. Before you make longer term decisions be sure to listen to your mid-managers as they may have a helpful contribution on culture or closer insight of the day to day operation than those not near the coalface.
If you don't, be assured someone else will be trying to attract them and use their experience and emotional intelligence. It will be harder for you to replace someone at the current time, and you stand to lose established, all-round useful skills to your company, and the underlying intrinsic ‘added-value’ they offer.
In the last twelve months we have worked with an increasing number of companies that have needed to rebuild their mid-management expertise and relaunch internal STEM programs in an urgent effort to regain their momentum.
We’re naturally pleased to be able to provide this support as mid management recruitment is a central part of our business model - but we would advise not to recruit due to knee-jerk reactions. Take time now to consider your own internal structure and dynamics within your team, ensuring you think about plans not just for this year but for three years and beyond.
