Forty percent of managers with two years or less of experience struggle to support their team, according to a survey by Gartner. A January 2023 Gartner survey of nearly 3,200 managers revealed that first time managers face different, often greater, challenges as they grow in their roles, particularly in today’s hybrid environment. Therefore, HR leaders should implement three steps to help first time managers succeed.
We spoke with Swagatam Basu, senior director, in the Gartner HR practice, at the Gartner ReimagineHR Conference in Orlando to discuss why first-time managers are struggling and how organizations can prepare them for success.
Journalists who would like to speak with Swagatam regarding this topic can contact Mary.Baker@gartner.com. Members of the media can reference this material in articles with proper attribution to Gartner.
Q: What steps does HR need to implement to better prepare first time managers to succeed?
A: Right now, HR prepares managers as if they’re running a sprint, giving them a short burst of training and expecting them to push off the finish line at top speed. But for most employees, the decision to become a manager is a life-time career choice. Once someone becomes a manager, they’ll often be a manager for the next 10, 20, 30 years. As such, preparing managers is much more akin to running a marathon. The training should start long before the race begins, and goals and expectations must be achievable.
There are three things HR leaders should do to better support first time managers:
- Redesign the manager role. First time managers, especially, benefit from a more focused role as they often struggle to step away from individual contributor work. If given a long list of responsibilities, they’ll try to do it all, struggle to prioritize, and are more likely to burnout. Organizations need to streamline responsibilities to ensure managers spend most of their time on tasks where they add the most value.
- Prepare future managers for the hardest parts of the role – early. First time managers should know exactly what to expect, and feel prepared to start managing their team on day one. To do this, they must start training to be a manager while they’re still individual contributors, before the promotion. New managers must also be given insight into the hardest parts of the role, which will give them more confidence stepping into the role.
- Target development to the areas most critical to supporting the team. Development support for new managers should focus on driving higher performance on their team – the primary objective of managers. There are three development areas that are crucial for first time managers to master to lead successful teams.
- Creating an environment of trust and psychological safety.
- Setting achievable work goals.
- Providing effective feedback.
These are also the areas first time managers find more challenging compared to more experienced managers, making it critical that first time managers work on these skills from the beginning.
Q: Why are managers today struggling?
A: When we surveyed managers, we found that compared to their onsite counterparts, it is twice as likely for hybrid managers to report an increase in the number of direct reports they manage. Additionally, while one-third of onsite managers report an increase in the number of tasks they need to do, this number jumps to 57% of hybrid managers. Yet, our research also shows that 77% of employees say it has become more important for them to receive support from their manager.
Now, imagine that this is the environment you are starting your managerial career in. A January 2023 Gartner survey of nearly 3,200 managers found that 40% of managers with two years or less experience are struggling to support their team.
Q: What is the typical approach to prepare first time managers?
A: Most HR leaders have tried to tackle these expanding expectations by providing a lot of development support to first time managers during the first few months on the job. This support slowly wanes as they gain experience. But starting manager development on day one of the job means that managers are playing catch up from the beginning.
Managers need support in those crucial first months as they’re learning core management skills for the first time while being expected to still fulfill all the requirements of the job. Concentrating development support in those first few months while new managers are learning the logistics of management – how the performance management system works, setting team goals, providing feedback – is a lot.
