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60% of new managers fail within the first 24 months in their new role, according to research from CEB Global. That’s a staggering number, and the consequences of those failures reverberate throughout the organization, often with a long-lasting impact.
Managers have an outsized influence on their team members while being key players in nurturing the organization’s culture. When a transitioning leader is struggling, their direct reports perform 15% worse on average than those who report to a high-performing manager. They’re also 20% likelier to leave the organization or be disengaged, according to the Gartner consulting firm. We all know people don’t leave bad companies, they leave bad managers.
On the other hand, when new managers take the reins fully prepared to lead, they can have an equally positive impact on engagement and retention and prepare themselves for success in roles that are increasingly challenging, leading larger, more complex teams.
To prevent the negative consequences of managers who aren’t ready, and to prepare your new managers for success, Melissa Janis, a leading expert in new manager development recommends custom development opportunities to help each new manager build and practice the specific skills they need in order to spark success for them, their team and the organization.
In her previous role as VP for leadership and organizational development at McGraw Hill, Janis learned the rewards of investing in managers before (and while) they assume their new role, and she says it’s crucial to personalize the learning experience to position them to tackle the challenges they will face and help them make a meaningful mark on the teams they lead.
New managers arrive with a unique combination of values, mindset, strengths, learning gaps, team composition and dynamics, and business objectives. They need to shift their identity from high performer to delivering through others, quickly understand what is required for success, and adapt to demonstrate new behaviors in a new context skillfully. Indeed, Michael Watkins, in his book The First 90 Days says, “Transition failures happen because new leaders either misunderstand the essential demands of the situation or lack the skill and flexibility to adapt to them."
Further, according to the Center for Creative Leadership, there are four skills every new manager must master, starting with self-awareness. The other three, which emerge from self-awareness, are communication, influence and agility. Often, we assume by the time people are ready to take on a management position, they’re very self-aware. But data tells us that this just isn’t so.
While 95% of people believe they’re self-aware, in reality, just 10 to 15% actually are, according to a five-year research project by organizational psychologist Tasha Eurich. Research suggests that when we see ourselves clearly, we are more confident and more creative. Self-awareness is the first step in effective personal branding and also the first step in Daniel Goleman’s emotional intelligence model. We make sounder decisions, build stronger relationships and communicate better when we are clear about who we are. Self-awareness makes for leaders who are more effective, employees who are more satisfied, and companies that are more profitable, according to an eye-opening article in Harvard Business Review.
Improving self-awareness is a personal endeavor. By engaging in a cycle of self-reflection and candid feedback from others, new managers understand how they are seen and the extent to which that aligns with how they wish to be seen. Baking ongoing feedback into management development enhances self-awareness and provides guidance for development actions.
Janis suggests some additional ways to build personalization into foundational management programs:
Choice: There’s a laundry list of foundational management skills and new managers have different learning priorities. For example, the urgency of interview skills depends upon the availability of open positions on the team. To ensure learners are getting the content most relevant to them in the moment, empower them to think critically about their learning needs and to choose the content they need. Additionally, offer content in different modalities to allow participants to create their own blend of instructor-led, e-learning, microlearning, etc.
Assessment: The pressure is on to deliver, and new managers arrive with different levels of proficiency. Assessment can ensure that learning is prioritized for each learner and training waste is minimized. Using the data to further inform learner choice rather than dictate placement adds personalization (and engagement) too.
Less is More: The fast pace and demands of the work environment have been putting pressure on delivering content in shorter time frames. As a result, practice is frequently left in the hands of the learner (via the ever-present action plan) – although only 15% of learning participants successfully apply what they learned, according to Robert Brinkerhoff, professor emeritus at Western Michigan University. Pare down the number of learning objectives and concepts to free up time for exercises that ask learners to apply the concepts to their unique situations.
Coaching: In its purest sense, coaching is about fostering self-discovery. Since new managers typically don’t have the depth and breadth of experience to be able to provide the answers, coaching should be used in conjunction with content delivery, not in the place of, as a way to personalize the learning experience. Coaching is especially helpful in navigating the identity shift from high performer to delivering through others, as the issues are unique and new managers need to answer for themselves.
Social Learning: When coaching is not an option, accountability partners and peer learning groups can augment training. Discussing new concepts with others is an effective way to personalize learning while facilitating transfer from the class to the workplace.
Personalizing management development is essential for helping new managers demonstrate competence and quickly turn their intent into impact. With ongoing coaching and feedback, new managers can continuously improve and grow into strong leaders.
William Arruda is a keynote speaker, co-founder of CareerBlast.TV and co-creator of the Personal Brand Power Audit - a complimentary quiz that helps you measure the strength of personal brand.
