No one would disagree that creating an organization filled with excellent leaders is essential for both business success and employee well-being. However, achieving this goal is no easy feat. Understanding and developing the specific behaviors that differentiate the best managers from the rest is necessary for creating a flourishing organization full of thriving employees.
In our 2024 special report, How to Build a Better Boss: What Leaders (and Their Teams) Need Now to Thrive, Peceptyx’s Center for Workforce Transformation detailed the results of a comprehensive study to identify what distinguishes a great manager. By measuring a set of 17 unique behaviors, including developing others, focusing on results, valuing diversity, and building commitment, clear patterns that distinguish the best managers emerged.
The Leadership Behaviors That Matter Most
The study revealed that employees working for their “best manager ever” consistently gave high marks across all 17 desired behaviors. Conversely, those reporting to their “worst manager ever” saw poorer performance across these same behaviors. Among the behaviors that set the best managers apart, five stood out as particularly important:
1. Inspiring Others
The ability to inspire and motivate employees is a hallmark of great leadership. Inspirational managers create a sense of purpose and drive that encourages their teams to strive for excellence. These leaders go beyond simply assigning tasks; they paint a compelling picture of what success looks like and help their team members see how their individual contributions fit into larger organizational goals.
2. Developing Others
Effective people leaders invest in the career development of their team members. They provide opportunities for learning and skills growth, fostering an environment where employees are always moving forward. This commitment to development not only improves the capabilities of the team but also demonstrates a genuine interest in each employee's long-term success.
3. Effective Planning
Good managers are adept at planning and organizing work. They set clear goals, ensure their team understands their roles and responsibilities, and help to quiet the noise so their teams can have space to focus. This skill involves breaking down complex projects into manageable tasks, anticipating potential roadblocks, and creating contingency plans to keep work flowing smoothly.
4. Communication of a Clear Vision
Successful people leaders communicate a clear and compelling vision for the future. This helps align the team's efforts with the organization's goals and provides a sense of direction and purpose. By consistently reinforcing this vision, managers help their teams understand the "why" behind their work, leading to increased engagement and motivation.
5. Effective Change Management
As all businesses deal with many types of disruptions, change management skills are crucial. Great managers communicate openly, share the “why” behind the change, and help their teams stay focused during transitions. Importantly, leaders effective at change management are transparent about not only what is changing, but also what is not changing — which is equally important for minimizing anxiety and team disruption.
For organizations where leaders are already performing well, specific coaching and development of these behaviors are what will take them from "just another OK manager" into "best boss" territory. However, the key behaviors for staving off "worst manager" syndrome are slightly different.
Addressing the Basics: Preventing "Worst Manager" Syndrome
Our study found that employees reporting to their worst manager ever consistently rated their leaders lower on each of the 17 management behaviors. In these cases, certain defined skills represent the minimum an individual needs to start their management journey. Without these in place, it's nearly impossible to be seen as effective in a leadership role.
The most significant areas for improvement fall into these five categories:
1. Integrity
Managers lacking integrity can damage trust and morale within the team. Ensuring that managers uphold high ethical standards is crucial for maintaining a healthy work environment. This involves being honest, following through on commitments, and making decisions that align with the organization's values
2. Effective Communication
Poor communication can lead to misunderstandings, errors, and a lack of direction. Managers must be able to communicate clearly and effectively to guide their teams. This includes not only conveying information but also actively listening to team members and encouraging open dialogue.
3. Expertise
Managers must possess the necessary knowledge and skills to lead their teams effectively. Without expertise, they cannot inspire confidence in their teams that they will be able to remove barriers to performance. This doesn't mean managers need to be experts in every aspect of their team's work, but they should have a solid understanding of the field and be willing to continue learning.
4. Taking Action
Inaction or indecisiveness can stall progress and frustrate employees. Effective managers need to take decisive actions to move projects and goals forward. While building commitment (one of the additional skills managers need to be effective) is important, once that's established, the work must move forward. This involves making timely decisions, delegating effectively, and following through on plans.
5. Customer Focus
Managers must prioritize customer needs to ensure the success of the organization. A lack of customer focus can lead teams to question the right next steps in their work, or worse yet, create situations that put employees in awkward positions while working directly with customers. This involves understanding customer needs, advocating for customer-centric solutions, and helping the team see how their work impacts the customer experience.
Organizations with managers struggling with these behaviors should intervene quickly to remediate and support them. This proactive approach can prevent harm to the workforce and improve overall managerial effectiveness.
Cultivating the Behaviors that Matter
To develop these meaningful management behaviors, organizations can take several steps:
- Assess Current Management Capabilities: Use a listening platform like Perceptyx’s People Insights Platform to conduct 360-degree feedback and employee surveys to gauge how managers are performing across these key behaviors. This will help identify areas of strength and opportunities for improvement.
- Provide Targeted Coaching and Development: Based on the data-driven insights from the listening you’ve conducted, offer tailored training programs that focus on developing the specific behaviors where managers need improvement. This could include workshops, live coaching sessions, and Intelligent Nudges.
- Encourage Peer Learning: Create opportunities for managers to learn from each other. This could involve mentoring programs, peer coaching groups, regular forums where managers can share best practices and discuss challenges, or the co-creation of solutions at speed and scale through crowdsourcing.
- Align Performance Management Systems: Ensure that your performance management processes reinforce these key behaviors. Include them in performance evaluations and make them a part of goal-setting discussions.
- Lead by Example: Senior leaders should model these behaviors in their own interactions with their teams. This sets the tone for the entire organization and reinforces the importance of these skills.
- Provide Ongoing Support: Offer resources and tools that managers can use to continue developing their skills. This could include access to leadership books, articles, or online resources. A leadership development solution like Perceptyx’s Grow can identify blind spots, assist managers in building positive habits, and offer personalized guidance for development.
- Recognize and Reward Progress: Celebrate managers who demonstrate improvement in these key areas. This could be through formal recognition programs or by highlighting success stories in company communications.
- Create a Culture of Continuous Improvement: Foster a listening-and-actioning environment where all managers are encouraged to continually refine and develop their leadership skills. This involves creating a safe space for feedback and learning from mistakes.
By focusing on developing these key behaviors, organizations can create a cadre of highly effective managers who drive team performance, enhance employee engagement, and contribute significantly to overall business success.
Perceptyx Can Help You See the Way Forward
Building an organization filled with excellent leaders is an ongoing journey, not a destination. By understanding the behaviors that differentiate the best managers and providing targeted support to develop these skills, organizations can cultivate a leadership culture that drives success at all levels.
To learn more about how employee engagement surveys and other forms of employee listening can help you assess and develop these crucial management behaviors in your organization, schedule a meeting with a member of our team at Perceptyx.