Stuck in the Middle with… Everyone, Basically

Middle managers are sometimes referred to as cogs in the machine. Maybe so. What happens if we remove those cogs? We can't ask the remaining cogs to just be better, a full restructure and reimagining is in order.

Who is in the senior-most position? They’re not in the middle.

Who is in entry-level roles? They’re not in the middle.

The middle is filled with leaders, managers, and individual contributors who are doing their best to do their best. What kind of support do they get?

Leaders in the middle are a bridge between senior leadership and frontline employees, implementing strategic plans, ensuring operational efficiency, and cultivating organizational culture. However, beneath the surface, a growing crisis of burnout and dissatisfaction is threatening their effectiveness and well-being. It’s not inevitable. If we’re willing to take action, we can reduce and prevent burnout and dissatisfaction. And, like so many, this golden opportunity comes dressed in overalls and looks like work.

Overworked and Underappreciated

Recent surveys and reports paint a stark picture of the challenges confronting middle management:

• Only a third of workers surveyed were interested in being promoted to manager, contrary to expectations, with many preferring their current roles or being deterred by long hours and responsibility.

• Up to 75% of middle managers report experiencing burnout, with 40% actively seeking new opportunities. This group consistently scores lower than executives or individual contributors on work/life balance.

• The most unhappy employees are often middle-performing middle managers who have been in their roles for 5-10 years, reporting feelings of being underappreciated, overworked, not listened to, stuck, and experiencing a sense of meaninglessness. They frequently complain that the people above them are not effective leaders.

• Companies flattening hierarchies during layoffs are leaving middle managers with fewer peers, increased workloads, and greater pressure to perform. Today’s middle managers are expected to be mental health supporters, career coaches, cultural architects, and change management experts.

• Managers are often caught between the expectations of senior leaders and the practicalities of their teams, frequently possessing limited decision-making power despite their pivotal role. This dual role can lead to conflicts, stress, and ambiguity in decision-making.

One response to this kind of data might be, “not us,” or, “that’s just how it is.” Turns out, it certainly could be your company and it doesn’t have to be this way.

Deferred Maintenance

Ignoring this pervasive burnout epidemic among middle managers poses significant risks to your organization:

• Loss of efficiency and cultural integrity: Middle managers are essential for implementing strategic plans, ensuring operational efficiency, fostering communication across the organization, developing talent, and upholding organizational culture within their teams. If they are not supported, these critical functions suffer.

• Cascading burnout: The stress and burnout experienced by middle managers can readily spread to other members of the organization, as peers may need to shoulder additional responsibilities.

• Failure in "The Great Flattening": While flattening organizational structures aims for speed and efficiency, removing managers without rethinking leadership models and investing in new support systems can lead to a critical loss of structure, support, and alignment. Strategies may lose traction, cultures can become diluted, and vital feedback mechanisms may fade, ultimately causing overall performance to suffer.

Creative About Restructuring? Get Creative About Support.

The manager crisis requires immediate attention, not just for the well-being of leaders themselves, but for the health and sustainability of the entire organization. It’s time to move beyond outdated approaches and reinvent the manager's role.

1. Cultivate a Culture of Recognition: When employees feel seen for their efforts at work, it powerfully boosts their overall well-being, fulfillment, and organizational culture. An integrated recognition strategy can lead to an 80% reduction in reported burnout and a 29% decrease in attrition risk. Encourage meaningful, tailored appreciation on a daily basis, rather than limiting it to occasional events. People need a sense of purpose. This is one way.
   

2. Invest in Tailored, Continuous Development: Generic "manager academies" often fail to deliver results because managers don't learn from another one-size-fits-all sit-and-get. Instead, they learn from doing, failing, and doing again with guidance, feedback, and accountability. Focus on:

   1. Live, tailored learning experiences: Workshops, coaching, and hands-on practice are three times more effective than asynchronous learning.

   2. Support during transitions: Provide targeted assistance during critical transitions such as new roles, forming new teams, receiving tough feedback, or navigating significant business shifts. This could include context-specific tools, expert external coaching, and live orientations.

   3. Address skill gaps: Many middle managers rise from technical roles and may lack formal leadership training or essential soft skills like conflict resolution, coaching, and strategic thinking. Development programs should be designed to build these critical capabilities. This isn't a deficit approach as in "you're bad at, so we'll train you in..." It recognizes that in many cases, people are promoted to roles into Job B because they're good at Job A. A lot of their skills may not directly translate.
      

3. Empowerment and Clear Expectations: To boost motivation and enable more agile responses to operational challenges, organizations should empower middle managers by giving them more decision-making authority where appropriate. It is also crucial to clearly define what great management looks like within your organization. When companies establish clear expectations and build development around them, managers are 1.4 times more likely to find their role manageable.
   

4. Enhance Communication and Inclusion: Establish regular, structured communication channels that allow middle managers to voice concerns or suggestions to upper management without fear of reprisal. Include middle managers in the strategic planning phase of change initiatives, transforming them from mere implementers to co-creators, which fosters buy-in from both management and staff. Furthermore, executives should conduct frequent check-ins that focus on the manager's well-being, not solely on business goals.
   

5. Leverage AI as an Enabler, Not a Replacement: AI can become a powerful ally, significantly automating administrative work and providing valuable insights, thereby freeing managers to focus on essential people-centric roles. AI tools can help with:

   1.  Real-time performance insights and coaching guidance.

   2.  Practicing difficult conversations in low-stakes, simulated environments.

   3.  Redesigning work and optimizing human-AI collaboration.

   4.  Strategic decision-making with synthesized company-wide data.

      
      

It's important to remember that AI complements, but does not replace, the essential human qualities of empathy, support, connectivity, and psychological safety that only a manager can create.

The role of the manager is inevitably changing, and their value is found not in elimination, but in a thoughtful reinvention. By understanding their unique struggles and implementing targeted support systems which are focused on recognition, tailored development, empowerment, clear communication, and strategic AI integration, organizations can transform middle management from a position of struggle to one of success, ensuring the health and sustainability of the entire organization.