Don't Allow Managers to Crash and Burn

​Would you allow an untrained pilot to fly you somewhere?
 
Or an untrained surgeon to operate on you?
 
The answer, I’m sure, is a resounding ‘no’.
 
Why then do companies routinely promote employees from individual contributor roles, provide little-to-no training, and expect them not to fail at leading people?
 
This is an inexplicable gap in thinking.
 
At great expense to the organization, in many different areas.

• 𝙄𝙣𝙘𝙡𝙪𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙚𝙢𝙥𝙡𝙤𝙮𝙚𝙚 𝙚𝙣𝙜𝙖𝙜𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙘𝙪𝙡𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚.

 
In fact, engaging employees should be a critical component of a robust business strategy.
 
And part of that is people leaders needing to learn how.
 
In the same way that people have to be trained to become surgeons or pilots.
 
For leaders, this means on-going training in basic management skills, but also in how to engage their employees.
 
𝘽𝙚𝙘𝙖𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙖𝙢𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙣𝙤 𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙩 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙞𝙨 𝙞𝙣𝙖𝙙𝙚𝙦𝙪𝙖𝙩𝙚, 𝙖 ‘𝙤𝙣𝙚-𝙖𝙣𝙙-𝙙𝙤𝙣𝙚’ 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙜𝙧𝙖𝙢 𝙞𝙨 𝙖𝙡𝙨𝙤 𝙞𝙣𝙨𝙪𝙛𝙛𝙞𝙘𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙩.
 
Yes, the technical aspects of the role such as timekeeping, vacation approvals and scheduling are still important.
 
However, they fade in importance when compared to the coaching and engaging aspects of people leadership.
 
Because the costs of disengaged employees are enormous:
 

• Low employee engagement costs companies $450-$500 Billion each year. (Gallup)
• Toxic workplace cultures have driven 20% of U.S. employees out of their jobs in the past five years at turnover cost greater than $223 Billion. (SHRM) 
• 69% of candidates will reject a job offer if they find out that a company’s workers are generally unhappy. (Hibob)

 
It is one thing if a manager fails, having received adequate preparation for the role.
 
Quite another if they were thrown in at the deep end and expected to swim, with no training provided.
 
And the repercussions of that decision will be seen in the costs associated with disengaged employees.
 
Plus managers, who will feel they have failed, through no fault of their own.