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The Invisible Manager is not derived from a scene in the movie "Now You See Me," nor is it part of the infamous Penn and Teller act from Las Vegas. Managers are increasingly becoming invisible in ways they can least afford - performance coaching. Despite considerable organizational efforts to provide managers with tools and resources to increase their effectiveness, many organizations are doing just the opposite by inundating managers with cumbersome tools, repetitive tasks, and demanding timelines.
Now don't get me wrong, I do not believe organizations set out to create an environment of over-tasked, stressed and sleep deprived managers, who happen to be responsible for coaching behaviors and driving results, yet that is the reality for many managers (did that just hit you in the gut as it did to me?). Let's face it, business demands require employees at all levels to take on additional responsibilities and in some cases with decreased resources or time. As a result, organizations ask for more, require more, demand more to meet client needs and forecasted results.
Make no mistake about it, employee burnout is real (especially at the management level). "The psychological and physical problems of burned-out employees, which cost an estimated $125 billion to $190 billion a year in health care spending in the U.S., are just the most obvious impacts. The true cost can be far greater, thanks to low productivity across organizations, high turnover, and the loss of the most capable talent." - Harvard Business Review.
The good news is there are ways to manage the increasing demands and provide meaningful tools to help managers create a balance between responsibilities and resources. It starts by simplifying the framework managers need to be effective in their role. Here are three guiding pillars for simplifying and amplifying the coaching process:
Expectations
It's time we move beyond the phraseology of "work-life" balance and move toward providing clear guidelines on how to achieve a balance between their role. It starts with leadership within the organization demonstrating an understanding of their employees' bandwidth and exhibiting balance themselves. Yes, that means allowing employees to enjoy time off on weekends or when scheduled, resisting the urge to send the notorious "I realize you are off today..." email.
Communication
Often managers are so in the moment, they don't realize the impact or extent of their engagement. It's hard to see the path ahead in the proverbial blizzard of activity required in their role. Organizations tend to encourage burnout behavior by stating the need to "do more with less" or to "do whatever it takes" to get the job done.
Feedback
Incorporate managers in the process of identifying and implementing a simplified method for obtaining feedback. Encourage managers to provide candid feedback on their workload and ways to improve current resources and operations. While open format tools allow for flexibility in coaching or communication, these over-tasked managers stand to benefit from pre-defined, balanced, and user-friendly platforms that will enable them to focus on a specific task at hand.
Managers in today's selling environment remain vulnerable to burnout and negative implications of overlooking the stress and anxiety they experience within the organization. In the absence of a clear, articulate strategy to enable managers to enhance their coaching styles, manage expectations and balance their time organizations are at risk of deploying an army of invisible managers - only a shell of their potential.
At the core of business success- across disciplines, across industries- lies a handful of truths, best practices, and strategies we must follow as business leaders to achieve the results we seek.
Each week we explore these truths, to take a more in-depth look into the success strategies of today's industry leaders, and to examine the key factors that lead to thriving organizational performance.
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