The majority of Americans are not engaged at work, 70% of managers have no training to lead a hybrid team and it could be killing employee engagement
70% of managers have no training to lead a hybrid team—and it could be killing employee engagement
It can't be that employee wages haven't kept pace, that more Americans feel financially unstable than ever, all of this while companies across every vertical have posted record breaking profits and their c-suite bringing home eye watering multi million dollar compensation packages. It must be the line managers do not understand how to manage and keep our serfs engaged!
As a middle manager with a hybrid staff... it could be both. I'm basically trusting my team to get their shit done without me checking over their virtual shoulders, but is that the best way? No idea. I'm just flying by the seat of my pants. My team has very high engagement levels, so I think my approach is working; but I also have a very experienced team and don't think my approach would be successful for managing fresh-outs virtually.
I imagine it is a one bad apple ruins the bunch scenario. So long as everyone it's working then it's good, but as soon as you eventually get a bad employee trying too get away with doing nothing it will kill morale if not addressed immediately
yeah it could be both but I would counter that without the other things no level of management will increase employee engagement, and manager while part of the engagement formula they are not the largest and can't be effective in this area until the other layers are met. Call it a corporate Maslow's hierarchy of needs where managers are near the top with like ping pong and pizza parties at the top.
I sort if see it the same those that complain about how employee loyalty no longer exists but have no problems laying off half their staff before they ask the CEO to take a pay cut, or barely keep pace with inflation for their highest performers.
You have to build a training plan for fresh. Measure at the macro, not micro.
Did the important things get done over the year? Great.
Coach for impact, end to end problem ownership, initiative, efficient communication, follow and follow through.
Delegate mentoring to those who you see as good examples. Credit the mentors for excellence in mentoring. Credit the rookies for improvement.
Micromanaging is not a scalable or effective approach
In my case, I was fully remote for 2 years of COVID and have been hybrid ever since. We started at three days in when we returned to work and are now down to one day in a week.
If anything, my team has gotten more productive, not less.
Do I feel disengaged sometimes? Sure, but my employer treats me like gold and I have all the freedom I need as long as I do good work, respond quickly when needed, and honor my deadlines.
Can't complain about that.
I swear that image seems appropriate at every second headline I read these days.
If the work is getting done, who the hell cares?
And record profits implies the work is getting done.
Exactly.
As long as I do good work and am quick to respond no one gives a damn how I manage my time, as it should be.
I'm not engaged because the company I'm in keeps firing everyone and I spend every day wondering if it is me or someone I rely on who is next. I also got in right as the last of the small company culture was getting strangled by big corp nonsense so I've basically just been adjusting from one game plan to the next every month for the last couple years, while listening to what's left of the old guard talk about how much better everything used to be. I spend more time in meetings about all the different bureaucracies I have to engage in than I do working on anything meaningful
Wow are you me?
You just left out the Brain Storm meeting where we list every job function we have and write it all down, so that it absolutely could not be used to replace us with third world talent.
Oh and then they decide they're going to be your project managers so absolutely nothing gets done until some normal employee actually takes over, not that they get paid for it.
Somehow the third party consultancy company in India (they are always called something like Avant Solutions LTD) never gets fired.
Was about to say the same thing. I just had a call to inform my team that they are going to change our reporting lines for the 4th time in the last 6 months.
As if that even works.
If you are in any kind of knowing+ problem solving role, a bunch of tasks doesn't explain having ownership or responsibilities.
That sucks that you are being subjected to that as part of the enshitification.
Do we work at the same company?
I work remotely for reasons. I don’t want to be engaged. I want to be left the hell alone so I can do my job and clock out for the day.
For real, how egomaniacal are these people that think we should be "engaged" with our jobs aside from doing what we need to do to collect our paychecks. I don't give a fuck about your company beyond its ability to continue making that direct deposit to my bank. Your goals are not my goals and by extension your metrics are not my metrics. Let me do my job and stop wasting people's time trying to pretend like you care how I feel while I'm doing it.
It's hilarious that you think managers have training on anything other than sexual harassment
I like that you made it sound like they learned how to sexually harass employees, not that they got trained on how to not do it or be aware of it, lol
Naw, they get trained on doing it more covertly. Sexual harassment is a core part of company culture after all.
Usually, managers get trained on how to handle it when it's reported. What to write down, who to tell, that kind of thing. Apparently corporations are neutral on whether you, yourself, do it
I feel seen.
My position went from being a known contributor to a company with an IPO, then we got bought by a mega corp and I'm now an invisible cog in an invisible division of a mega corp.
Honestly, sounds like a pretty good deal to me.
Not everyone is able to navigate corp politics. Those who can typically excel even if their performance is subpar.
Alienation in action https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marx's_theory_of_alienation
I was disengaged before becoming remote, and that has more to do with the lack of value my employer has for us than the work I’m doing or the location from which I do it from.
Pay us more, treat us like humans, stop catering to short term investors.
I know plenty of people who are paid too much and get treated very well but still are very disengaged. I don't think it's a one size fits all situation.
Another factor could be generic late stage capitalism burnout, that shit is depressing
