News flash: 80% of your managers don’t have the talent the job requires
How confident are you that your company has the right people in management positions?
We pose the question because of this astonishing opening paragraph of a recent Harvard Business Review blog post:
Gallup has found that one of the most important decisions companies make is simply whom they name manager. Yet our analysis suggests that they usually get it wrong. In fact, Gallup finds that companies fail to choose the candidate with the right talent for the job 82% of the time.
Eight out of 10? If Randal Beck and James Harter’s assertion is correct, it’s a wonder any business can stay afloat, let alone thrive.
Beck and Harter, execs at research giant Gallup, write that “Managers account for at least 70% of variance in employee engagement scores across business units, Gallup estimates. This variation is in turn responsible for severely low worldwide employee engagement.
“Gallup reported in two large-scale studies in 2012 that only 30% of U.S. employees are engaged at work, and a staggeringly low 13% worldwide are engaged. Worse, over the past 12 years these low numbers have barely budged, meaning that the vast majority of employees worldwide are failing to develop and contribute at work.”
A grim picture, indeed — made even more painful by the fact when managers succeed in engaging and retaining top performers, they contribute about 48% higher profit to their companies than average managers, according to the authors.
Oh, about that 82% number? Beck and Harter say Gallup research shows that only 18% of current managers demonstrate a high level of talent for managing others (although another two in 10 show some talent for it). Still, that means 82% aren’t optimally effective at motivating and engaging their people.
10% have what it takes
According to Gallup, one person in 10 has the talent needed to do an effective job. According to Harter and Beck, that means:
- They motivate every single employee to take action and engage them with a compelling mission and vision.
- They have the assertiveness to drive outcomes and the ability to overcome adversity and resistance.
- They create a culture of clear accountability.
- They build relationships that create trust, open dialogue, and full transparency, and
- They make decisions that are based on productivity, not politics.
So. If employees work in groups of 10 or more, it’s a pretty good bet there’s a bona fide managerial talent in there somewhere, right?
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