People Manager Readiness Best Practices Are Needed
Research by our experts that focus on leading situationally, found that 60% of new managers underperform during their first two years, and 85% receive no training prior to switching into the role of manager. Organizational culture assessments show that companies often promote high performers into management roles based on:
- Technical expertise.
- Institutional knowledge.
- Individual contribution.
Yet, people manager assessment center data confirms that leading people requires a fundamentally different skill set.
10 Leadership Competencies New Manager Struggle With
Without the right preparation, new managers report struggling with key areas which directly affect employee relations, engagement, retention, and performance:
- Goal Setting.
- Communication.
- Customer Focus.
- Persuasion and influence.
- Coaching.
- Decision making.
- Delegation.
- Performance management.
- Team alignment.
- Planning and organizing.
6 People Manager Readiness Best Practices That Build High-Performing Teams
Our organizational alignment research found that people manager readiness influences strategy execution, organizational health, and organizational resilience. Companies that invest in structured management development programs consistently outperform those that rely on sink-or-swim transitions.
- Define the Definition of High Performance for the Role Before Promotion
One of the most overlooked people manager readiness best practices is clarifying what success actually looks like in the role vis-à-vis the company’s overall strategy and culture. Many organizations fail because people manager expectations are vague, tactical, inconsistent, or misaligned.Effective manager readiness programs define what being a high performance manager means, how management success is measured, and how managers are supported.
Organizations that establish clear management expectations reduce the ambiguity that often undermines first-time leaders.
- Prioritize Coaching Over Command-and-Control
Feeling pressure to deliver in their new role, new managers frequently default to doing or directing work (great for the short-term) instead of investing in the competence and confidence of their teams (better for the long-term). Successful people managers shift their mindset from personal achievement to team enablement.That means teaching managers how to set meaningful goals, diagnose the development and motivational levels of their direct reports, conduct meaningful one-on-ones, identify employee strengths, and create accountability without micromanaging.
Manager readiness programs should include real-world coaching simulations rather than relying solely on theoretical leadership content.
- Build Communication and Feedback Capability Early
Communication breakdowns with managers drive employee disengagement and misalignment. Too many new leaders avoid difficult conversations because they fear damaging relationships.Strong people manager readiness programs teach managers how to set clear expectations, deliver candid feedback respectfully, and navigate conflict productively. Project postmortem data shows that frequent, high-quality conversations improve trust, alignment, and execution speed.
- Use Experiential Learning Instead of One-Time Training Events
Leadership capability is built through repetition, reflection, and application — not through isolated workshops. In fact, even well-designed training events only change the on-the-job performance and behavior of 1-in-5 participants.To get results, use peer learning cohorts, live role plays, experiential learning, leadership mentoring, manager toolkits, scenario-based learning, stretch assignments, follow-up coaching, and ongoing reinforcement.
- Measure Manager Readiness Like a Business Priority
Participant attendance and satisfaction do not equal leadership effectiveness. The goal is not to “train managers.” The goal is to improve individual and team performance through more consistent and aligned leadership mindsets and behaviors.Identify business success metrics that matter to the participants, their boss, and the organization as whole. The most common examples include perceived manager effectiveness along with employee and team performance, engagement, retention, and mobility.
- Create Ongoing Support Systems
People manager readiness can be measured by assessment centers , developed through customized training and coaching, and reinforced by leaders and cultural norms over time. It is not achieved at promotion.The most effective organizations invest in building leadership communities and continuous leadership development pathways to set people managers, and their teams, up for success.
When organizations treat management as a strategic capability rather than a single event, managers can lead, manage, and coach high performing teams through complexity and change.
The Bottom Line
People manager readiness best practices focus on building the leadership behaviors, mindsets, coaching capabilities, communication skills, and accountability systems that enable managers to drive team engagement and performance at scale. Organizations that invest intentionally in manager readiness create stronger cultures, more resilient teams, and higher performance.
To learn more about setting people managers up for success, download 3 Must-Have Ingredients of High Performing Teams for New Managers