Top Ways Managers Influence Performance
It’s hard to imagine a company performing at its peak if its managers are second rate. Proven management principles are linked to both business outcomes and organizational health. In fact, McKinsey found that management’s influence on performance can account for up to 58% of the difference in terms of:
- Productivity
- Market share growth
- Market capitalization
- Sales growth
- Return on capital employed
How Managers Influence Performance
There is little doubt that effective managers help everyone work smarter not harder. Based upon people manager assessment data, effective managers influence performance by:
- Planning and Organizing
Effective management help move an organization towards its strategic objectives. That means effectively managing priorities as work is thoughtfully planned and organized. Managers influence performance by consistently identifying which tasks are the most important and allocating appropriate time to accomplish them.Do you managers consistently determine the resources needed to accomplish work and help to plan who will do what by when?
- Persuading and Influencing
High performing managers set meaningful and ambitious goals and build proportionate performance pressure to accomplish them. They are adept at selling the vision for change and influencing others to embrace the organizational vision for success. And when things get messy, they uncover underlying problems, mitigate resistance to change, and present convincing ways to take positive action.Can you managers positively influence their teams in harmony with organizational values?
- Developing and Investing
Top managers actively develop others through feedback, stretch assignments, reflection, and mentorship. They develop capable teams by considering talent gaps to accomplish business objectives and building the necessary capabilities. They retain high performers by addressing their satisfaction and career paths and proactively work with employees to develop meaningful individual development plans.Are your managers proactively developing others?
- Delegating and Empowering
Our organizational culture assessment data confirms that managers influence performance by empowering others and delegating well. This includes giving others decision-making authority and providing meaningful support without removing responsibility. They assign important projects that have a clear beginning and end that fit the employees’ skills and interests.Are your managers micromanaging or empowering their teams?
- Communicating and Listening
In annual employee engagement surveys, employees consistently rank the abilities to communicate clearly and actively listen as foundations for employee retention and psychological team safety. The highest performing managers share well-organized messages, communicate with energy and passion, and demonstrate genuine concern for what others are saying. This helps to make their teams feel valued and respected.How good are your managers at what they say and how they say it?
The Bottom Line
The link between management and performance is an enduring thread that ties strategy to execution. Given the pivotal role of managers in driving organizational success, investing in new manager training and management development should be a top priority for talent leaders. Are you equipping managers with the requisite skills, tools, and support to help them and their teams to perform at their peak?
To learn more about how managers influence performance, download Do You Have High Performing Managers? The 4 Management Metrics that Matter Most