Three Ways For Companies To Combat Accidental Managers

A significant 82% of managers have not had any formal management and leadership training on entering their role, according to a recent Chartered Management Institute (CMI) report.

Its research further highlights that these so-called ‘accidental managers’ are not just less effective, due to a lack of training and support, but can actually have the potential to damage productivity, retention and engagement, as well as employee satisfaction. Notably, having an untrained manager can negatively impact not only an employee’s view on more subjective factors, such as company culture, but also tangible elements, such as compensation and benefits.

In the current competitive market for talent, it underlines the importance of businesses investing in effective management training and adopting an approach to leadership that is better aligned to the complexities and challenges of today’s workplace.
Here are three ways that companies can help avoid creating a workforce of accidental managers.

Identifying the right talent

Firstly, companies need to understand what fuels good management within their organisation. High-performing individuals within their own role can often be seen as natural candidates for managerial positions but they are not necessarily always the best choice.

For example, empathy has been found to be one of the most powerful leadership qualities, with recent CMI research showing that empathetic leaders actively boost employee innovation, engagement and retention - 76% of people who experienced empathy from their leaders reported they were engaged compared with only 32% who experienced less empathy.

It’s therefore important that as well as focusing on traditional managerial metrics, such as qualifications, skills, performance and technical expertise, to also make sure that softer skills like empathy, communication and critical thinking, are equally prioritised in the succession planning and recruitment process.

Current managers should also be supported to adopt this wider approach when recruiting, so they can play their part in identifying the right potential within their teams and protect against creating new managers without the right attributes.

Clear development pathways

Secondly, companies can consider adopting a structured approach for their aspiring, in-house, managerial talent. This should offer both clear career pathways and individual development plans.

Career pathways clearly document what's expected in each role at different levels and map out how progression can be achieved – this should be both vertically, via moving to the next step, and also laterally, by changing discipline or department.

Individual development plans can then address any skills or experience gaps along the pathway.
Managing work and managing people are two very different skillsets but it’s often difficult for non-managers to have the opportunity to develop the latter. Coaching and mentoring can be a really valuable tool here, offering a more senior colleague the chance to develop their people skills whilst nurturing a more junior member of the team. Establishing key employees as subject matter experts is also a great way to expose them to dealing with a wider pool of people across the business, as are offering opportunities to lead an internal working group or committee.

It’s important to also offer aspiring managers chances to grow their knowledge of how the company works outside of their own role or department, so things like work shadowing, secondments or being involved in project-based work are all valuable experiences.
This all helps to ensure that future managerial talent is provided with both the roadmap and learning opportunities to step up.

It’s also equally important that employees who have no ambition to follow this path can also plot career progression and that going into management is not the only way on offer of moving forwards.

Ongoing learning

According to the CMI report, organisations that invest in management and leadership development programmes see a 23% increase in organisational performance and a 32% increase in employee engagement and productivity.

These programmes will generally be either delivered internally or outsourced, depending on the size and resource of the company.

It’s important here that it’s not a ‘one and done’ approach but focuses on ongoing learning to enable managers, both new and established, to stay relevant in their field and respond to the evolving workplace and HR landscape.

The rapid growth of hybrid and remote working during the pandemic for example created new challenges, even for experienced managers, that companies should have looked to offset with relevant training.

Companies may also look to support their managers to undertake one of the many formal management and leadership qualifications, or to gain Chartered Manager status.

With UK companies facing ongoing recruitment and retention challenges, taking steps to avoid creating accidental managers is key. By understanding what creates good leaders, developing clear career pathways and investing in ongoing management training and development, companies can go a long way to reversing this trend.

Rebecca Dixon

Rebecca Dixon is Head of HR at Progeny HR Consultancy and Advice, winner of HR Consultancy of the Year at The Personnel Today Awards 2023.