Managers have a colossal impact on their teams - and on the success of the company.
A bad manager can disrupt and hinder their team, preventing reports from thriving at work and, ultimately, limit business success. According to research from Gallup, 50% of employees leave their companies because of their manager.
Laura, who is part of Vyou's marketing team, said: Recognition is a biggy for me. One of my previous managers found it impossible to provide any positive feedback whatsoever and always had something to say, or pick apart about my work. The lack of recognition for my effort was incredibly demoralising and ultimately led me to leave the company.”
Laura's not alone.The O.C. Tanner Institute asked its employees what the most important thing their manager or company currently does (or could do) to cause them to produce great work. The most common response was to be recognised.
Good managers, on the other hand, can have an incredibly positive impact on their teams.
Vyou team member Ric shares memories of a great manager. He said: I had a good manager that knew my job would never rely on the things I would do, but how I would ‘think'. He used to say I pay you to come here and think” although I was contracted as an engineer and I had to do certain tasks everyday.”
Reflecting on lived experiences, the Vyou team has pulled together key traits that make up the anatomy of good and bad managers. Here's what the team came up with:
However, being a ‘good' or ‘bad' manager is not clear cut. Often, the expectations and pressures placed on managers are high and there's a lot of blame placed on managers when things go wrong. Becoming and sustaining ‘good manager' status requires support, yet this is often lacking. Research carried out by CareerBuilder.com found that a whopping 58% of managers said they didn't receive any management training.
Marc, who is part of the Vyou marketing team, said: It took 2 years for the managers (of which I was one) to get any external training - there was no internal training. We found out that the external sessions only happened due to local funding, no investment from the business.”
Without proper management support, it becomes more difficult for managers to identify the tools they need to help their reports and get the most out of their teams. If not intercepted, this can then feed a vicious cycle of employee dissatisfaction, disengagement and poor team performance.
At Vyou, we understand that happiness is good for business. That's why Vyou brings together the best of AI and human coaching to create personalised work wellness journeys, all in one easy-to-use app.
We believe that if you put your team's wellbeing first, the rest will follow.
Ready to support your teams by investing in your managers? Book a demo today to see how we can offer coaching and support.
