When a new manager fails, in many cases, it’s a failure for their manager.
Because they didn’t care to support the new manager with hard things.
I have worked at companies that take new manager training very seriously.
I have also worked at companies that don’t care much about training new managers.
They pick their excellent individual contributors with somewhat good soft skills and make them managers.
They toss them into the deep end with little to no guidance and the new manager fails!
Most of the management skills can be learned on the job but certain areas need explicit guidance.
Here are a few examples:
✅ Writing quality performance reviews
✅ Performance management cases that turn into PIP
✅ Letting somebody go
✅ Sensitive compensation discussions
✅ Executive communication
I have seen firsthand the quality of managers at companies with formal training programs. It’s a day and night difference.
The most important thing to remember is –
When a manager doesn’t perform, the entire team suffers.
When a manager doesn’t perform it’s a failure for their manager too.
I am curious to hear about your experience with manager training. Have you found them helpful?
