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Abstract: The role of the manager has become increasingly complex due to forces such as globalization, technology disruption, and changing worker expectations, requiring proficiency across strategic planning, leading others, communicating, developing talent, and other diverse hard and soft skills to navigate today's volatile business environment successfully. While leading organizations recognize high-quality managers as a strategic asset, attracting and developing top management talent presents ongoing challenges, as younger professionals are less interested in management careers due to workload demands, a skills gap exists between required competencies and what new or promoted managers possess, and traditional training methods often provide inadequate preparation, resulting in few managers being truly ready for senior roles. To address these issues, experts recommend a strategic, multifaceted approach including updating manager job profiles and career paths, establishing formal mentoring and coaching, deploying strategic stretch assignments, implementing blended leadership training programs, and utilizing 360-degree performance evaluations to gain competitive advantages in hiring, retention, and leadership development.
The role of the manager has never been more complex or more crucial to organizational success. While the shortage of qualified managers has long been bemoaned, the nature of management itself has shifted dramatically in recent decades under the forces of globalization, technological change, and evolving worker expectations. Today's leading organizations recognize that high-quality managers are a strategic asset, yet developing management talent remains an ongoing challenge.
Today we will examine the multifaceted nature of the modern manager role and how it has evolved. The overarching goal is to equip both current and aspiring managers with insights on navigating this crucial yet intricate function successfully within modern organizations.
Defining the Modern Manager Role
To understand the complexity of the modern manager role, it is useful to unpack its multidimensional nature. At a basic level, all managers are responsible for achieving objectives and maximizing productivity through others (Kotter, 1990). However, researchers have identified several distinct yet interrelated components of effective management:
Planning and Decision Making: Effective managers must be adept at strategic planning, setting goals and priorities, making well-informed decisions under conditions of uncertainty, and executing on initiatives (Mintzberg, 1973). As change accelerates, agility and adaptability are increasingly important skills.
Leading and Motivating Others: Managers fulfill a key leadership function in aligning individual and team efforts toward shared goals. This involves motivating, inspiring, and developing employees as well as resolving conflicts (Katz, 1955). Developing emotional intelligence and building trust have become essential leadership competencies.
Communicating and Collaborating: Strong internal and external communication skills are vital for success. Managers today operate within integrated networks, requiring collaboration not just with direct reports but cross-functionally and potentially globally (Drucker, 2018). Cultural competence has thus grown in importance.
Developing and Coaching Talent: Managers play a central role in mentoring, training, and career development. This emphasizes growing individual potential while ensuring the organization maintains a steady pipeline of future leaders (McClelland, 1973). Modern managers act as facilitators of learning and change agents.
These components entail both hard business skills as well as softer leadership abilities. Mastering their multifaceted nature has become imperative given today's more knowledge-driven, virtual, and volatile business climate.
Challenges in Developing Modern Management Talent
Several research studies have highlighted ongoing difficulties businesses encounter when attempting to cultivate strong managers. Two significant challenges are attracting top talent and providing effective development opportunities:
Attracting Managerial Talent
In surveys, the lack of suitable candidates consistently ranks among executives' top concerns (PwC, 2022). Multiple factors contribute to this shortage:
Fewer younger professionals aspire to manage due to workload demands and stress levels.
The skills gap between required management competencies and what newly hired or promoted individuals possess is wide.
Compensation often fails to match responsibilities, especially at mid-levels.
Standard job profiles struggle to convey the multidimensional nature of management work.
As a result, high-potential candidates are increasingly scarce despite efforts such as expanding recruiting networks (ManpowerGroup, 2019). Retaining existing talent proves challenging as well given alternative career paths.
Developing Management Skills
Even when organizations succeed in attracting potential managers, cultivating their abilities presents difficulties:
Traditional on-the-job and classroom training proves inadequate preparation given evolving demands.
Limited mentoring and coaching means managers often learn by trial and error.
Insufficient feedback along with infrequent informal skill-building curb continuous improvement.
Managers assigned roles before developing required competencies, causing impediments.
Too few stretch assignments, rotational programs, or other experiential opportunities exist.
As a result, research finds that only 8-12% of managers are considered truly ready for senior positions (Harvard Business Review, 2015). These persistent talent challenges were exacerbated by the upheaval of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Strategies for Developing Talent in Today's Organizations
To address the complexities of attracting and growing management talent effectively, organizations require a strategic, multi-pronged approach. Promising practices emerging from the research and examples of successful companies are summarized below.
Update Management Job Profiles and Career Paths
Leading firms have revamped job profiles for all levels, emphasizing modern skill requirements through behavioral-based frameworks. They also provide nonlinear, modular career paths recognizing management is one among diverse options (Anthropic, 2021).
For instance, software company Atlassian profiles technical and leadership skills separately while tech giant IBM has career maps with lateral moves between functions.
Establish Formal Mentoring and Coaching Programs
Mentorship has proven benefits like improved retention, higher motivation, and accelerated skills building (Daloz, 1999). Leading organizations ensure all managers receive training in coaching techniques and tie mentorship to performance goals (Center for Creative Leadership, 2015).
For example, consumer goods corporation P&G runs a yearlong global mentoring program pairing senior leaders with high-potential employees.
Deploy Stretch Assignments and Projects Strategically
Short-term roles outside employees' functional areas build skills such as adaptability and collaboration. Assigning project leads trains initiative and decision-making. Top companies match roles to individual development needs using competency assessments (HBR, 2019).
For instance, management consultancy McKinsey utilizes customized project rotations linked to managers' multi-rater feedback reports.
Implement Comprehensive Leadership Training Programs
Classroom instruction combined with applied learning like case studies, simulations, and real-world challenges teaches key leadership skills systematically. Focusing on individualized feedback aids continuous development (DeRue & Wellman, 2009).
For example, healthcare company Johnson & Johnson uses multi-week blended programs featuring peer coaching, experiential exercises, and post-course development plans.
Evaluate Manager Performance Using 360-Degree Feedback
Gathering input from direct and indirect reports as well as peers and clients provides a well-rounded view of strengths and areas for growth versus relying solely on annual top-down reviews (Church & Waclawski, 1998). Regular feedback also boosts engagement.
Tech giant Microsoft relies on its proprietary assessment and development centers, which solicit multi-source feedback to identify customized learning goals for all people managers.
Conclusion
The role of the manager has evolved dramatically to encompass greater strategic, operational, leadership, and people responsibilities within today's complex organizational realities. While attracting and developing top managerial talent pose ongoing challenges, leading companies address these issues through strategies like revamping career paths, implementing mentoring and experiential learning, leveraging 360-degree feedback, and deploying blended leadership training programs.
Looking ahead, continuous management skills development will remain essential given the pace of change. Organizations that strategically cultivate their management capabilities will gain a competitive advantage in talent acquisition and retention while ensuring a pipeline of future leaders. Individual managers, for their part, must commit to lifelong learning and expanding their competencies across technical, cognitive, and interpersonal domains. Together, progressive organizations and self-aware managers can navigate the multifaceted realities of this crucial yet intricate modern function.
References
Anthropic. (2021, March 18). Rethinking career paths for the future of work. Anthropic. https://www.anthropic.com/blog/rethinking-career-paths
Center for Creative Leadership. (2015). Developing leaders through mentoring. www.ccl.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/mentoring.pdf
Church, A. H., & Waclawski, J. (1998). The relationship between individual personality orientation and executive leadership behaviour. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 71(2), 99–125. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.2044-8325.1998.tb00670.x
Daloz, L. A. (1999). Mentor: Guiding the journey of adult learners (2nd ed.). Jossey-Bass.
DeRue, D. S., & Wellman, N. (2009). Developing leaders via experience: The role of developmental challenge, learning orientation, and feedback availability. Journal of Applied Psychology, 94(4), 859–875. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0015317
Drucker, P. F. (2018). The practice of management. Routledge. (Original work published 1954)
Harvard Business Review. (2015, July 24). Why do so many incompetent men become leaders? (And how to fix it). https://hbr.org/2015/07/why-do-so-many-incompetent-men-become-leaders-and-how-to-fix-it
Harvard Business Review. (2019, May 7). When is the best time to give employees stretch assignments? https://hbr.org/2019/05/when-is-the-best-time-to-give-employees-stretch-assignments
Katz, R. L. (1955). Skills of an effective administrator. Harvard Business Review, 33(1), 33–42.
Kotter, J. P. (1990). A force for change: How leadership differs from management. Free Press.
ManpowerGroup. (2019, October 22). The war for talent intensifies as skills shortages worsen globally. https://www.manpowergroup.com/research-insights/talent-shortage-2019
McClelland, D. C. (1973). Testing for competence rather than for "intelligence." American Psychologist, 28(1), 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0034092
Mintzberg, H. (1973). The nature of managerial work. Harper & Row.
PwC. (2022). PwC's global CEO survey. https://www.pwc.com/gx/en/ceo-agenda/ceosurvey.html
Additional Reading
Westover, J. H. (2024). Optimizing Organizations: Reinvention through People, Adapted Mindsets, and the Dynamics of Change. HCI Academic Press. doi.org/10.70175/hclpress.2024.3
Westover, J. H. (2024). Reinventing Leadership: People-Centered Strategies for Empowering Organizational Change. HCI Academic Press. doi.org/10.70175/hclpress.2024.4
Westover, J. H. (2024). Cultivating Engagement: Mastering Inclusive Leadership, Culture Change, and Data-Informed Decision Making. HCI Academic Press. doi.org/10.70175/hclpress.2024.5
Westover, J. H. (2024). Energizing Innovation: Inspiring Peak Performance through Talent, Culture, and Growth. HCI Academic Press. doi.org/10.70175/hclpress.2024.6
Westover, J. H. (2024). Championing Performance: Aligning Organizational and Employee Trust, Purpose, and Well-Being. HCI Academic Press. doi.org/10.70175/hclpress.2024.7
Citation: Westover, J. H. (2024). Workforce Evolution: Strategies for Adapting to Changing Human Capital Needs. HCI Academic Press. doi.org/10.70175/hclpress.2024.8
Westover, J. H. (2024). Navigating Change: Keys to Organizational Agility, Innovation, and Impact. HCI Academic Press. doi.org/10.70175/hclpress.2024.11
Westover, J. H. (2024). Inspiring Purpose: Leading People and Unlocking Human Capacity in the Workplace. HCI Academic Press. doi.org/10.70175/hclpress.2024.12
Jonathan H. Westover, PhD is Chief Academic & Learning Officer (HCI Academy); Chair/Professor, Organizational Leadership (UVU); OD Consultant (Human Capital Innovations). Read Jonathan Westover's executive profile here.
Suggested Citation: Westover, J. H. (2024). The Modern Manager: Navigating a Complex Role in Today's Organizations. Human Capital Leadership Review, 14(3). doi.org/10.70175/hclreview.2020.14.3.9
