Dive Insight:

Recent world events have turned “business as usual” on its head. Faced with demands for flexible work arrangements and increased DEI efforts (and confronted with issues raised by “quiet quitting”), business leaders must rethink priorities and processes, the survey noted.

Leaders who serve as coaches may help their organizations more effectively adjust to these transformations. By coaching direct reports, leaders can better connect with them and drive engagement, but managers aren’t naturally prepared to serve in this role, a 2021 survey found.

Training managers on how to coach teaches them how to be active listeners and meet their direct reports where they are, HR Dive previously reported. By contrast, untrained managers may develop unproductive behaviors, such as micromanaging, not providing adequate feedback and focusing on weaknesses instead of strengths.

Freshly promoted front-line managers, typically lacking the skills to coach new direct reports, may especially benefit from such training, according to a June 2021 report from Forrester. In consumer-oriented businesses, while executives shape customer strategy, front-line managers are directing the employees putting the strategy into action. Effective development programs can prevent new managers from falling into bad habits. These programs should take place over a six-month to one-year period and involve formal, social and experiential learning, a research exec said.

Read the full report here