How Manager Training will Transform Your Company in 2020

by Mike O'Neill

Manager training is a costly investment that may produce unsatisfactory results when you rely on an “off-the-shelf” training program, but there is a much better way to train your managers.

Netflix’s Chief Talent Officer, Patty McCord, focused on developing great managers and emphasized the importance of team building above all else.

“All effective retention strategies must include a plan to develop great managers. After all, managers are the direct link between the C-suite and the rest of the organization, and are responsible for executing leadership's strategy and vision.”

A customized training program, tailored to meet the goals of your company and the individual needs of your managers, can be just what your organization needs to reduce employee turnover and increase its profit margins.

Keep reading to learn more ways that customized manager training will transform your company in 2020.

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Decrease Employee Turnover

Manager training is one of the best things you can do to reduce employee turnover within your company. You might think that high turnover is expected for your industry and isn’t that big of a deal — but do you know how much it actually costs your company?

How Much Does Employee Turnover Cost Your Company?

For employees earning up to $30,000 per year, you’ll pay 16% of their annual income to replace them. That percentage increases to 20% for employees earning $30,000-$50,000, and 213% for executives that make $100,000 or more per year.

As you can see, turnover could be costing your company hundreds of thousands of dollars annually. Implementing a customized manager training program will help you decrease turnover and save your company a lot of money.

How to Decrease Turnover With Manager Training

The following case study is an example of just how effective a manager training program is when created with your unique needs in mind.

I worked with a client recently that had a newly promoted supervisor who didn’t have much previous leadership experience.

He was promoted within a department that had high turnover, mainly due to a previous supervisor being uninvolved with employees on a day-to-day basis.

The communication between the supervisor and his employees was directive rather than collaborative, and the employees didn't trust him.

In some ways, the new supervisor learned what not to do from working under this person, but he also received customized manager training in the importance of regular communication, interaction, and collaboration with employees.

Turnover has dropped in that area, and employees are more productive due to better training on their jobs and involvement by their supervisor.

Rhonda Beard, Bench Builders

As you can see from Rhonda’s experience with her client, a management training program tailored to meet the needs of your company can produce excellent results.

Rhonda’s client was able to reduce their turnover rate following the manager training program she developed for them, and their company was only one of many who have experienced similar success.

Train Managers to Be More Empathetic

Employees who feel their voice is heard are 4.6 times more likely to feel empowered to perform their best work, according to Forbes.

Manager training programs reduce turnover by teaching your managers crucial skills they need to develop, motivate, and encourage their employees.

A negative work environment causes employees to leave, creating a high turnover, and the costs associated with turnover are significant.

Rhonda Beard, Bench Builders

No one wants to work for a boss that is demanding, overly critical, and who doesn’t seem to care about their employees. Management training teaches your managers how to be more effective leaders.

Management Training can result in the creation of a work environment where employees feel respected & valued. These employees are now less likely to quit.

Include These Topics in Your Training Program

Reducing turnover is crucial for your company. A customized training program focused on the following leadership topics will teach your managers how to be more empathetic and improve employee retention:

  • Recognizing and Acknowledging Employees
  • Creating Opportunities For Employee Development
  • Motivating and Inspiring Employees to Achieve Goals
  • Creating a Respectful Work Environment
  • Constructive Communication
  • Active Listening Techniques
  • Providing Honest and Constructive Feedback

Schedule a phone call with one of our expert consultants and learn how you can reduce your employee turnover rate quickly.

Increase Employee Engagement

Only 15% of employees worldwide are engaged in the workplace, and managers account for at least 70% of the reasons employees are not engaged.

The relationship between a manager and employee directly affects how an employee feels about their job. A disengaged employee often has a manager who is demanding, overly critical, and who doesn’t encourage them to advance in their career.

How Much Does Disengagement Cost Your Company?

Disengaged employees cost companies in the U.S. up to $550 billion per year.

With the cost of employee disengagement being so high, manager training is an affordable option.

How to Increase Engagement With Manager Training

Manager training plays a vital role in increasing employee engagement in the workplace by focusing on developing your managers into better role models and providing training for every employee — not just your managers.

Develop Better Role Models

“75% of employees who voluntarily leave jobs quit their bosses, not their jobs.”

Your managers must display the behavior your company wants to encourage in its staff. Managers are role models for their employees, and they need training to fulfill that role more effectively.

The manager-employee relationship is the most important driver of employee engagement. Management training teaches them how to enable their employees to do their work, how to conduct themselves, and how to act as a role model by conveying messages through different channels.

Train Your Managers to Develop Their Employees

Workers are quitting at higher rates than we have seen since 2001, and that trend is expected to continue.

94% of employees say they would keep their jobs longer if their employer invested in their continued education.

Upskilling employees increases engagement, which in turn reduces turnover, which saves your company a lot of money.

Your managers should play a huge role in developing training programs for individual employees. Customized manager training programs should teach them how to create development plans and motivate their employees to complete those plans.

Recommended Reading: 5 Changes to Improve Your Leadership Training Programs

Improve Employee Performance

Improving employee performance can be accomplished by training your managers to provide constructive and honest feedback on a routine basis.

One out of every 5 employees are not confident that their managers will provide consistent, constructive feedback, yet 69% of employees say they would work harder if their efforts were recognized.

How Much Do Underperforming Employees Cost Your Company?

25% of businesses report that a bad hire costs their company $50,000 or more. In some cases, the employee might not be a good fit for the company or the particular job role.

50% of candidates misrepresent themselves on their resumes, and 30% tell blatant lies.

This situation is unfortunate. There isn’t much you can do when you hire someone who doesn’t have the necessary knowledge or skills to perform the job.

When your employees are underperforming due to a lack of motivation or poorly trained managers, you have a different situation, and implementing a management training program will help.

How to Improve Employee Performance With Manager Training

Manager training is crucial to ensuring top-performing employees throughout every department. Your managers are the teachers and cheerleaders for all the employees who work under their supervision, and you need to provide them with guidance to help them be more effective in their role.

Employees perform better when they have a clear understanding of expectations, and their performance is closely aligned with the company's goals.

Train Managers to Routinely Provide Feedback

The best way to help employees gain a better understanding of what their manager expects of them is to provide them with regular feedback.

The leadership development plan that you create for your managers needs to include how to give regular, useful feedback to employees. You should decide how often managers give employees feedback and what sort of feedback your employees will receive.

Your managers need to know how to offer suggestions to correct any deficiencies or help remove obstacles to improve productivity.

Train Managers On How to Provide Constructive Feedback

Simply telling an employee what they need to improve on without providing them with instructions on how to do it gets you nowhere fast.

Your managers need to receive training on how to provide feedback constructively, so it is understandable and compelling.

30% of employees say they feel undervalued on the job, and you need to train your managers to help reduce that percentage.

Customized manager training programs teach your managers how to interface with employees through constructive communication, active listening, and honest feedback with guidance for improvement.

Recommended Reading: Leadership Workshops: The Last Guide You Will Ever Need

Quick Summary

As we learned from Rhonda’s experience toward the beginning of this article, manager training can benefit your business in more ways than one, and a customized training program is the best approach for achieving the results you want.

A customized manager training program will benefit your company in the following ways:

  • Decrease Employee Turnover: Train managers to be more empathetic through constructive communication and active listening to help reduce turnover by making employees feel respected and valued.
  • Increase Employee Engagement: Train managers to be better role models and teach them how to develop their employees through customized development plans to increase employee engagement and productivity.
  • Improve Employee Performance: Train managers to provide consistent, constructive feedback to motivate their employees by clarifying expectations and showing them how they can further their career within the company.

Learn How You Can Reduce Employee Turnover with a Quick Phone Call

Employee turnover is costing your company hundreds of thousands of dollars per year, and reducing turnover should be a top priority. A customized manager training program could be just what your company needs to improve retention and increase profit margins.

83% of businesses believe that developing leadership at all levels is crucial. Still, many of them aren’t getting the results they expected — or worse, they aren’t even tracking the results at all.

“Only 18% of companies are gathering relevant business impact metrics for leadership development programs.” - SHRM.org

When you invest your money into manager training programs blindly, likely, you won’t receive a customized program, and “off-the-shelf” training programs are nowhere near as effective.

Off-the-shelf training is not nearly as effective as customized training. Customized leadership training offers the client a detailed assessment of the learning & development needs of staff with attention to the company culture and strategic plan.

Companies choosing customized management training also gain access to Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) with industry experience who are able to offer on-target instruction with measurable results.

Mike O'Neill, Bench Builders

Our team of experienced consultants can work with you on an individual basis to create a manager training program just for you. They’ll even help you learn to measure and track the results so you can calculate your ROI for the training.

Schedule a phone call with one of our experts, and we will show you how you can reduce employee turnover quickly.

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