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Today β€” 13 January 2025Main stream

The secret to a successful workplace: middle managers

13 January 2025 at 02:05
a chain of paper dolls with ties, with two missing from the center

iStock; Rebecca Zisser/BI

  • Middle managers have a vital job in the workplace.
  • Some companies have scaled back on middle management.
  • Workplace experts shared why middle managers can be essential to a business's success.

US businesses are betting that they can thrive with fewer middle managers. They could come to regret it.

Some business leaders think scaling back middle-manager roles β€” a trend called the "Great Flattening" β€” could help them cut costs and operate more efficiently. Managers and workplace experts, however, told Business Insider that middle managers can play several important roles, including executing the goals of upper management, addressing workplace issues, and boosting workers' morale and performance.

"They really do form the connection between the company's strategy and execution by workers on the front lines of the business," Daniel Zhao, the lead economist at Glassdoor, said. "Without an effective layer of middle management, you aren't going to get strategy translating into results."

BI's Aki Ito reported that some companies had found that employing fewer middle managers could significantly strain their operations. Workplace experts and managers described to BI what makes middle managers important, why companies should invest in training them, and the challenges of these roles.

Why workplace experts think middle managers are valuable

Bryan Hancock, a McKinsey partner who has written about management, said middle managers are critical for an organization's overall performance. Hancock also emphasized their role in employees' performance and well-being, including helping workers grow in their careers.

"Managers are critical in making individuals feel like they belong, feel understood, and connecting all of that messiness of our personal life to our work life," Hancock said.

Middle managers can be a key part of building up the entire workforce. "Companies have to invest in the skillset and the development of these managers in order to avoid certain pitfalls that can ultimately impact revenue generation and career development and growth," Jessica Hardeman, a senior director of attraction and engagement at the career site Indeed, said, adding "heightened emotional maturity," digital fluency, and adaptability were attributes of a good manager.

While Zhao, Hardeman, and Hancock say managers are critical to a workplace, the job market for middle managers has cooled down.

An analysis of job postings provided to Business Insider by Revelio Labs, a workforce analytics provider, found opportunities for middle-manager roles declined by 42% from April 2022 to October 2024. Opportunities for junior employees, associate workers, and senior leadership roles fell by 15%, 17%, and 25%, respectively.

With fewer opportunities in middle management and a cooler job market expected in 2025, middle-manager job seekers are competing for other roles.

"Career setbacks have created a traffic jam at the bottom of the ladder, with middle managers now competing in the same pool of jobs as frontline managers and experienced employees in the same pool as new grads," a Glassdoor report published in November said.

In addition to the cooler demand for middle managers, the job has become more challenging in recent years. Managers may have had to handle more work because of fewer hires, tried to get people to comply with return-to-office policies, and been the bearers of unfortunate compensation and career mobility news with scalebacks in pay bumps and promotions.

Workplace experts said managers should receive adequate training to help make their jobs a bit more manageable. Zhao said companies should invest in training the next leaders to set them up for long-running success in this step of the career ladder.

Why managers think they are valuable

Managers who talked to BI also said middle management does a lot for the workplace.

Tsvetelina Nasteva, a human resources manager for Casinoreviews.net, said the idea that middle managers just deal with the "day-to-day stuff" upper management doesn't have time for oversimplifies what they do.

"Our jobs are so much bigger than that," said Nasteva, who's in her 30s. "We're the ones driving innovation, shaping culture, engaging talent, and providing the insights that help steer the ship."

Kyle, a former manager, said he thought middle managers could be valuable for businesses β€” but often weren't given the power and freedom to fully execute their job responsibilities.

"I think the great lie told to middle managers, at least many of them, is that they can be arbiters of change and will be free to mold their teams and processes in their own style β€” except then that's not how they're treated," said Kyle, who asked for partial anonymity because of a fear of professional repercussions.

He said that instead, some middle managers were largely tasked with things like time-sheet approvals, disciplinary conversations, and running meetings β€” administrative work upper management doesn't have time for.

Tiago Pita, a brand and e-commerce director in the UK, said he decided to step into a middle-management role because he wanted to shape his team's direction while still being involved in day-to-day operations. He said juggling these two priorities is what makes middle managers valuable.

"We're the ones translating high-level goals into actionable tasks, ensuring that our teams stay on track and motivated," said Pita, who's in his 30s. "Middle managers also play a big role in sustaining company culture, as we work closely with team members and address their questions, struggles, and achievements on a more personal level than upper management can."

What has your middle management experience been like? Have you quit a middle manager role or don't plan to become a manager? Reach out to these reporters at mhoff@businessinsider.com and jzinkula@businessinsider.com.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Before yesterdayMain stream

The most common jobs for US men and women without college degrees

4 December 2024 at 01:03
Construction workers in a construction site.
Drivers and customer service representatives are the most common jobs for young men and women, respectively, in the US without a four-year college degree.

Ron Watts/Getty Images

  • A Pew Research Center analysis shows the largest occupations for young US workers without degrees.
  • Men often work as drivers or in construction, while women work in customer service or nursing roles.
  • College enrollment rates have declined in recent years.

Customer service representatives and truck drivers are the most common jobs for young women and men without a four-year degree, respectively.

Men and women between the ages of 25 and 34 who don't have college degrees also work as construction laborers, health aides, cashiers, and chefs, per a Pew Research Center analysis published in July.

There was little overlap in the most common jobs for young men and women without a college degree, but the two groups did share two roles: first-line supervisors of sales workers and retail salespersons.

Roles like these have become particularly prevalent for men, whose college enrollment rates have fallen behind women's in recent years.

Forty-seven percent of US women between the ages of 25 and 34 have a bachelor's degree compared to 37% of men, per a Pew analysis published in November. However, overall college enrollment rates have fallen in recent years: The share of male high school graduates between the ages of 16 and 24 enrolling in college has declined to 58% as of 2023 from 67% in 2018, per the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Young women's enrollment rate has declined to 65% from 71% over this period.

Many of these young people are seeking jobs that don't require a college degree, and some have benefited from companies dropping degree requirements. The share of US job postings that require at least a college degree has fallen to 17.8% from 20.4% in 2019, according to an Indeed report published earlier this year. To be sure, many employers still prioritize hiring workers with a college diploma.

The Pew report published in July also highlighted the most common job categories for Americans with a four-year college degree. Four occupation categories were among the 10 most common jobs for both men and women: software developers, managers, accountants and auditors, and elementary and middle school teachers.

Are you looking for a job and comfortable sharing your story with a reporter? Please fill out this form.

Read the original article on Business Insider

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