‘Accidental Manager’ syndrome – How to help new managers succeed

Jordan was exceptional at their job. When you assigned Jordan a task to complete, you knew you wouldn’t have to check in with them. It got done. Reports always came in ahead of time. Sales targets were met — even beaten. Jordan was a great collaborator and team player but often preferred to work in solitude in the corner meeting room. Recognised as a high performer, Jordan was soon promoted to a Team Leader role as a reward for his excellent contribution and loyalty and was soon managing a small team of five. A few months down the line, Jordan was disengaging. The teams performance had steadily declined and morale was low. Jordan was working harder than ever, still still the main contributor to the teams performance. He felt the team were letting him down and not pulling their weight. He was beginning to wish he had never had the promotion, this felt so hard.

This scenario is likely to resonate with many new managers, employers and employees. When the career path to manager is unclear, results-oriented and high-performing employees often find themselves suddenly promoted into the role — more for their technical strengths than for their people management skills. Many of these “accidental managers” are then let loose on their teams without receiving the proper training. Sadly, this phenomenon is very common.

In the UK, over two thirds of managers categorise themselves as “accidental managers.” An accidental manager is an individual who gets promoted because of their technical expertise, rather than a desire to become a people manager. It’s not unusual for accidental managers to have little, or no, people management skills and experience.

In fact, the Chartered Management Institute believes some 2.4m of 3.4m UK managers fall into this category. These ‘accidental managers’ are promoted for all the wrong reasons and are subsequently ill-equipped to support their workforce.

There are many types of accidental manager. Some think they don’t need management training to be successful – only to find themselves drowning once thrust into a position of responsibility.

Others put their head down and work hard to overcome their deficiencies, often by taking up further learning or training, or learning from others. A final group are thrown into the limelight without wanting it.

The result is a new manager who experiences anxiety and imposter syndrome, potentially causing a disconnect between them and their direct reports. It can negatively impact team productivity, engagement levels, and well-being. In fact, recent research indicates that managers may have an equal (if not greater) impact on the mental health of their employees than their spouses, doctors, or therapists. We have all heard of the phrase, ‘People leave managers, not organisations.’

Becoming an accidental manager carries a number of risks, both at an individual and organisational level. Outside of the potentially detrimental health impacts on you and your team, accidental managers are set up to fail. They spend their time doing something they have relatively little experience or training in as opposed to doing the work they’re best at.

Mental health data compiled by Lumien suggests that half (50 per cent) of employees leave their job due to bad management. In addition, untrained managers can cause a 16 per cent reduction in productivity within an organisation. Monetarily, this translates as a financial impact of over £5,000 per employee, based on the average UK salary of £31,461. Conversely, improving the management effectiveness by just 0.1 per cent can lead to a 10 per cent productivity increase.

Low productivity is a persistent issue in the UK which has stifled our economy. Closing that productivity gap would add £254 billion to the UK economy every year, unlocking opportunities for higher wages and tax revenues to fund public services. Ultimately, higher workforce productivity helps to build a more prosperous society, and it begins with effective management.

The UK has been meandering its way through the past few years with low productivity. Britain’s lack of management training is a smoking gun. Our management population are less qualified than our US and European counterparts.

Nobody can be an effective leader and manager without proper training. And not everyone wants to be a manager.

“The most dangerous leadership myth is that leaders are born – that there is a genetic factor to leadership,” said the late Warren Bennis, a US pioneer of leadership studies. “This myth asserts that people simply either have certain charismatic qualities or not. That’s nonsense; in fact, the opposite is true. Leaders are made rather than born.”

Establishing whether someone has the will and potential to become a manager is critical. Train your people to be great managers and leaders and your productivity, employee engagement and well-being will certainly improve.

When you consider that only one in five line managers are rated highly, according to CMI’s research, yet 75% of people rate their own manager as the chief influence on their career, the scale of the problem becomes clear.

71% of UK employers admit that they don’t train their first-time managers. So, it’s unsurprising that studies show managers exhibiting poor behaviours, such as inadequate basic team management and organisation skills (essential management skills training, introduction to first-line management, effective delegation and time management, (26 per cent), poor communication (12 per cent) and conflict avoidance/management (7 per cent). (Source – CMI)

So we urge you to break the cycle –  don’t take shortcuts by using management opportunities as rewards for high performing, highly skilled workers who excel in their role.  The added responsibility of a managerial position may not be right for them, and if it is, set them up to succeed with appropriate training to enable them to transition for doing to managing and leading.

Adalta specialise in management training from entry to senior level. We help accidental managers become intentional leaders.

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