LEADING BY EXAMPLE
I am sure you have all come across a troll on Facebook where a CFO addresses the CEO on the risk of training his people. What happens when you train someone and they leave, asks the CFO. What happens when you don’t and they stay, the CEO aptly answers.
One major point the CFO fails to realize is that training acts as a great contributor to motivating your team as well. The corporate setup has become very competitive and salary is not the key factor behind employees changing jobs. Corporate culture, team synergy, and even chemistry with the boss, all play a role when an employee thinks of switching jobs. All this can be cultivated through corporate learning.
The importance of skillset development has become very influential in the job market. Millennials consider their ability to grow and learn ‘now’ as the key driving force behind their future salary raise and job satisfaction thereof. So naturally, the companies that are creating a culture of career growth through skill development are able to outperform their competition in innovation, sustainable growth and eventually, employees’ retention.
However, for a learning culture to be fruitful, managers and employees must all play an active role. But a proactive learning culture will not happen overnight. This is where the mid-level managers must play a role to encourage employee learning. Mid-level managers are important because, often times, they are the bridge between junior executives and the decision makers.
According to a recent LinkedIn survey, one of the top impediments for learning and development in an organization is getting the mid-level managers to promote learning within their teams. Employees are more likely to engage in learning if the edict and the encouragement come from these managers. But in order for this to happen, the mid-level managers must be enabled to develop their own skills first.
Mid-level managers, when trained properly, can become the future foundation of your company. They are the core team that lead the day-to-day operations of an organization. While senior managers and top executives focus most of their time on strategy and value additions, the mid-level managers are the group that ensures your company is delivering on your current mission and thus your key deliverables to clients.
While there are many logical reasons to invest in training your mid-level managers, the two main reasons why we should focus on the growth of their skills are
1. Creating workplace synergy and balance
The way the mid-level manager will manage their executives will have a very high impact over all company deliverables. If an employee is demotivated, then he might be unproductive. A mid level manager can play a very big role in ensuring that the team around him is focused, motivated and efficient. Gallup Chief Workplace Scientist, Jim Harter, says that the mid managers from each company are driving great cultures. Remarkably, 70% of the variance between lousy, good and great cultures can be found in the knowledge, skills, and talent of the team leader. Not the players, but the team leader.
2. Sustainable Growth
Mid-level managers drive targets. Regardless of whether you are in a sales, operations or support role you have a Key Performance Indicator (KPI) in place. This KPI is then monitored and evaluated by leaders in the mid-level. If a mid-level manager is not capable of evaluating the KPI and plan a way forward based on current scenario, expected growth and overall target of the company will be unachievable.
Not just evaluation, profiling the team members is also very important to get the best out of them. If your mid-level managers do not possess the soft skills required to properly motivate each member under them individually then chances are your team will not function at its top level.
Mid-level managers also can become great future leaders for the company if they are groomed regularly and efficiently. Hiring from within, by developing the skillset of your current mid-level managers and promoting them, is the best move each company could make. Managers who reach leadership roles within the same company have higher rates of involvement and achievements, as they understand their new duties better and faster.
But how do you create a modern learning strategy to develop the skills of mid-level managers? Building a modern learning platform is not all about technology. According to education technology expert and CEO at MASIE Productions, Elliott Masie, “learning is creating the agility to rapidly shift the business and staff to solve changing problems and reap opportunities”.
It may be time for companies to get agile. What does that mean?
With agility, you receive a training request, and work quickly to come up with a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) to address the need as soon as possible. From there, you get feedback from the team you are assisting, implement and improvise on their feedback. Rinse and repeat until the need is met. It’s more of a trial and error process to perfect your module, but since you are involving the group that demanded, it will use and benefit from the learning, and chances of the platform to succeed is much higher. Also, your organization is much more likely to engage in regular learning if you provide on-demand learning opportunities.
For a company to be successful in constant skills development, leaders and employees must all play an active role. For most organizations in Bangladesh, a thriving culture where everyone is involved in developing their skillset might not happen overnight. But with the right mindset, right process and a motivated mid-management that demands and encourages a learning environment, it is possible to create the desired platform.
