Middle Managers Don’t Like Managing: 4 Areas of Concern and How to Address Them

Middle managers play a crucial role in our companies. They are the ones that bridge the gap between senior leadership and frontline employees. They are the glue that holds our teams together and ensures our company’s success. However, a recent survey conducted by The Predictive Index studioID revealed some alarming trends about middle managers’ job satisfaction. It explored factors that affect their wellbeing and put forward actionable strategies that we can implement to address the specific challenges faced by our middle managers.

About the survey

In 2023, Predictive Index and studioID surveyed over 340 people leaders, seeking to understand the concerns and challenges faced by middle managers and how their experiences align with those of their leaders. Twenty-two percent of the respondents held C, executive, or VP roles. Seventy-eight percent of the survey respondents held Director, Manager, or Supervisor roles. Their responses provided some valuable insights into the managers’ experience in today’s business landscape and workplace environment. Below are some of the key findings we will need to be paying attention to if we truly value our future leaders.

What are middle managers struggling with?

• Lack of Support from the Top: While executives believe they actively listen to middle managers’ concerns, the managers tend to disagree. Almost two-thirds of middle managers don’t feel heard when approaching their leaders about important issues. This lack of alignment leaves middle managers feeling frustrated and unsupported.
• Being on the edge of burnout: Managing others is not easy. Creating alignment, motivating, and managing the performance of a team is a high-stress job and this survey’s findings further confirm that fact. Almost all respondents believe middle managers are stressed, with 44% of them describing that stress as “very” or “extremely” high. It comes as no surprise that managing both their teams and their own workloads often leaves middle managers feeling overwhelmed and on the verge of burnout.
• Deficit of Development: Growing and developing talent is a critical success factor for any company. While companies offer some level of training and development opportunities, 58% of surveyed middle managers reported being unable to take advantage of those opportunities due to a lack of time. Workplace demands placed on middle managers not only hold them back from expanding their capabilities but also create additional pressures that further exacerbate their feelings of frustration and burnout.
• Shortness of Team Resources: It is no secret that managers and their teams are continually being asked to deliver more with less. Middle managers feel that their workload, the inadequate size of their teams and complex team dynamics keep them from being fully productive. Managers report spending over half of their time managing others, trying to deliver with the staff they have and often lacking the resources to effectively address team conflicts.

Actions we can take to support our middle managers

As leaders, we need to:

• Consistently promote open and direct conversations with our managers. Clearly communicating the “why” behind decisions and sharing timelines makes our managers feel included, heard, and cared for.
• Hold skip-level meetings (i.e., meetings of managers and leaders without the manager’s manager present). These may go a long way in making middle managers feel connected, heard, and given another platform for addressing concerns.
• Create a safe space for our managers to speak up about their workload without fear of judgment or punishment. By allowing them to voice their struggles and concerns not only do we provide them with a forum to openly discuss issues and get guidance around priorities, but we also set a positive tone for our entire company.
• Better understand where our managers spend their time and create the space for them to grow and develop. Holding dedicated 1:1s to discuss our managers’ professional development goals and how we can best support them in the pursuit of those goals can help encourage their growth without adding to their feelings of frustration and burnout.
• Provide our managers with the resources, guidance, and training they need to be their most productive. This may take the form of additional staffing, help with prioritizing competing demands, or targeted training in areas such as time management. Also providing managers with tools that help them understand how each team member works best and how to best manage them will allow them to delegate more effectively, increase productivity, and handle team conflicts more efficiently.

Summary

Middle managers are the ones that help execute a company’s strategy but the challenges they face are often underestimated. The 2023 survey conducted by The Predictive Index highlights some of the pressing issues that affect middle managers’ productivity and feelings of engagement.

As leaders, we need to strive to create an environment where our managers feel heard, supported, and equipped to handle their responsibilities effectively. By doing so, we foster an environment of empowerment and continuous growth, we help improve productivity, and we create a positive work culture that benefits everyone. Also, by embracing tools like The Predictive Index we can arm our managers with valuable insights and resources that will help them be successful in their roles as people leaders.

Middle managers feel the pressure on multiple fronts, and, under the right circumstances, they would happily relinquish their people leader role. It is up to us, as their leaders, to put the right strategies in place and provide them with the right support, so that they can become stronger leaders who will continue to drive our company’s success.

If you want to explore how you can best support and develop your middle managers, feel free to reach out to us.

Another resource available to you is our monthly free webinar training. October’s session deals with unpacking middle manager burnout and dissatisfaction.  Simply click the button below to watch the replay!