Invest in hiring right middle mgmt to boost bottom line

By James Agrawal
While a good CEO brings with him great vision, insights, and an exciting set of challenges to the table, it is equally important to have the right set of middle management for an organisation to be successful and efficient. Rapid technological progression, massive generational shift and the requirement to create innovative strategies to meet the ever-shifting market dynamics underline the vital need of a robust middle management in any organisation.Middle managers such as department heads, associate directors, business directors and business heads enjoy a central position in organisational hierarchies, and are responsible for effective implementation of senior management’s plans via suitable allocation and utilisation of resources.
Back in the day, middle managers were expected to play the role of only resource allocators, negotiators and executors. Today, middle managers are also drivers of change, innovators and advocates of talent in a thriving organisation. They have a rather complicated relationship with power, which is activated and experienced in the context of their interpersonal relationships. With superiors/leadership team on one side and subordinates on the other, middle managers are expected to play diverse roles within an organisation when moving from one interaction to the next, constantly oscillating between relatively high and relatively low power interaction styles. By virtue of their structural positions, they are simultaneously the “victims and the carriers of change” and often find themselves stuck in between various stakeholder groups, which can produce “relentless and conflicting demands”. Hiring and developing great managers, and building up and leveraging the strengths of every employee are key to multiplying employee engagement. Needless to say, middle managers are the operational engine of any business and this criticality makes hiring for this position an exigent task.
It is important to ensure that an organisation puts in place the right middle management which has the necessary proficiency and aptitude to keep the cogs turning. A lot of companies face difficulties in finding the right talent for middle management since the job requires a candidate not only with exceptional skills, domain expertise but also significant experience and leadership quality.
A few aspects can be taken into account while hiring middle managers and could go a long way in building a reliable and successful team of leaders within an organisation.
Translation & implementation of policies: One of the most important facets of a middle manager’s job is to interpret and implement the strategy and ideas of top-level management in an effective manner. It is imperative that the middle manager is able to determine optimum ways to appoint staff, develop activities and timelines, and put the entire project into practice autonomously. While hiring a middle manager, it’s important to look for someone who not only possesses the knowledge and skills but also confidence and foresight to come up with novel ideas without hand-holding every step of the way.
Middle managers should not only be the experts in their respective domains, but also hold noteworthy decision-making power and influence with employees and the pliability to understand people at the two extreme ends of the organisational hierarchy.
Thus, while hiring for middle management, soft skills such as people management, crisis management, team-building capabilities cannot be overlooked.
Being able to successfully ‘manage’ people is a highly underestimated skill. According to industry statistics, 58% of employees state their relationship with their manager to be very important. Middle managers are often the operational glue that holds remote teams together. Hence, it’s imperative they have experience in communicating with teams both online and offline and encourage open lines of communication.
Allocation of resources: Allocating tasks to appropriate teams/employees, adequately staffing each team and overseeing execution are important aspects of a middle manager’s role. Since top management does not typically look into allocation of tasks to individual teams or employees, middle managers must be able to identify team members’ strengths and weaknesses, assign tasks to fitting employees and oversee the processes and adherence to quality and deadlines.
While hiring for mid managerial positions, it is important to look for managers who demonstrate leadership skills and team spirit. Instances and examples of their past team management experience can be a good indicator of their skills and suitability for the role.
People management: They are the bedrock of employee engagement efforts and a powerful link between the leadership and employees, while also serving as front line communicators who complement the vision of the senior management.
Good middle managers not only play a crucial role in driving change but also make an active contribution in developing and retaining the workforce. According to a recent survey, higher numbers of employees have trust in the middle management as compared to the senior management. They also act as catalysts that understand and accelerate the process of individual learning among employees in day-to-day interactions.
This enables the middle manager to be more familiar with what employees as a whole will embrace, or resist for that matter. Especially in case of initiation of a change programme, it has been found that middle managers are essential to the process, and employees display stronger commitment and support to the local initiation of change programmes.
Thus, it is crucial that a middle manager is aggressive when chasing company’s goals but also respectful and humble when communicating the same to his/her sub-ordinates.
Complementary cultural fit: For successful hiring, a lot of organisations are turning to the concept of ‘culture fit’. Employees whose values are more in line with the organisation tend to experience greater job satisfaction and deliver better results. This becomes all the more important when hiring a middle manager since they play a key role in promotion and preservation of a company’s culture. While hiring a middle manager, it is advisable to evaluate candidates for cultural fit during the entire process — right from initial interviews to reference checks after selection.
However, hiring good middle managers is not enough by itself. They must be provided adequate training in conflict resolution, time management, project management, etc, apart from the required skill set. In a survey done by a micro-learning employee platform it was found that 87% of middle managers “wish they had received more management training when they first became a manager”.
Instead of overburdening middle managers with trivial line items, organisations should focus on honing their existing skills to turn them into organisation’s future leaders and avert brain drain.
Senior management rightfully deserves applause for their leadership and path-breaking ideas, however, without the support of a strong middle management, it is not possible to introduce and develop consequential evolutions that reach the company’s bottom line. Hence, it’s imperative to invest ample resources and time in finding the right middle management.
The writer is MD, BTI Executive Search/PERSOL KELLY. Views are personal