Middle Management Has an Image Problem
Alternative career development paths are considered more viable
Anjli Raval, Management Editor of the Financial Times, has an excellent article in today’s edition. It reports on research that finds that of Gen Z employees aged up to 27 years old, “half didn’t want to be middle managers at all. Almost 70 per cent dismissed such jobs as “high stress, low reward.”” They are more interested in taking responsibility for managing their own career growth then managing others.
But the article goes on to note, “it is not just Gen Zers turning against middle management.” Why? Because “the pandemic forced many people of all ages to reassess whether the old ways of working made sense.”
Employees of all ages are coming to realise, “flatter corporate structures, greater ability to freelance, and technology-driven autonomy have made alternative career paths more viable. Rather than taking on manager roles, younger workers are prioritising building individual expertise and having control over their schedules.”
Alternatively, “younger employees have likely seen the downsides of blind loyalty. They watched their parents burn out, get laid off, or struggle through economic downturns. The promise of bountiful pensions and job security is not there, trust in leadership and respect for authority is lower and they don’t assume that climbing the ranks will protect them.”
As the article notes, “Middle management also has an image problem,” including the nature of the job, the limited opportunity to make a real difference, and disillusionment with traditional approaches to management and leadership, and poor role models in the existing management levels that are often accidental leaders that have had little training and lack essential capabilities.
In conversations to date I have come across evidence that all the above is true. Unless there is any real change I would suggest employees would be very wise to manage their own career paths and personal development plans. I many organisations there is ample evidence that blind loyalty does not pay off.
Boards need to be wise to the implications of these findings and ensure they understand what needs to change to avoid the associated risks and costs. Both are going to be significant is they fail to act and address the challenges. And they need to recognise that they must be addressed in very non-traditional ways.
Enlightened Enterprises will need to design flexible, customisable, individual career paths in collaboration with employees who will demand meaningful career development choices and alternative progression choices. That would be my guess, at least.
The most Enlightened Enterprises will realise that this approach offers great advantages to them to. They can explore a wider range of opportunities and be more capable of adapting to change at speed than those who adopt a traditional approach.
Post the pandemic many employers are having a taste of the future. When they try and force people back to the office they risk losing their top talent. And without flexibility they risk not being able to recruit the best new talent. At this level employees now know the power they have. In other cases traditional power structures may mean employers can still call the shots, for now. But employee dissatisfaction, and disengagement, is likely to rise as the employee experience becomes more unequal.
There are also implications for providers of management educators. Business schools and others that teach based on the old world model will find that fewer and fewer younger people see their offering as relevant to them as they manage their own career progression. My guess would be that more want practical knowledge gained from experiences, rather than academic / theoretical knowledge, particularly as that becomes ever more outdated.
Does this all ring true to you? Do you have a personal perspective on this?