If the top management is defined as strategists then middle management represents the executors. These managers are valuable knowledge assets in any organisation, says TS Krishnakumar
The role of the middle manager has always been crucial simply because they are the only sensitive link between front line employees and senior management. If top management is defined as strategists then middle management represents the executors. This middle link has the capability of making or breaking the company as they are the ones that manage the customers and employees on a day to day basis. They form a vital link between the doers and the planners.
Middle managers are among the most valuable knowledge assets within the organisation. They have substantial insights about how the business can be improved, how things work and how work gets done. They are the managers who have invested in building a career within the organisation, worked their way up and hence harbour natural aspirations that the company takes care of them and guides them to succeed. However, the middle manager in Indian Industry has always been a victim of identity, role and authority confusion.
Many a times, the Middle management crisis also coincides with the mid-life crisis, which is determined by age and the stage of life a person is in. Organisations have long deliberated on this issue and have grappled with how to manage their middle management talent in line with the company plans and personal aspirations. As much as an organisation needs to focus on this aspect, career development is an individual responsibility and has to be always managed by the individual concerned. The role of the external environment has a huge role to play in this aspect.
Career aspirations get confused with clashing priorities in life such as family commitments, clash of aspirations, social pressures, location constraints and even health. In many cases, the balancing becomes more critical as the person’s partner also has similar balancing to be done. The problem is further compounded by lethargy that sets in employee mind and they suddenly realise that they are not up to it.
From a career point of view, the matter gets complicated by changing industry landscape and questions raised on the time tested practices and skills. Many of these practices and skills have simply vanished overnight. The key to success lies in adaptability of an individual to the changing scenario and flexibility in their approach to career planning. Many roles have become redundant due to changing business practices and evolution of new business practices.
Career is a package deal and has to be carefully planned to avoid the so called middle management crisis. Employees need to leverage the various support mechanisms offered by the organisations to take stock of the situation and work out mutually acceptable options. The prevalent HR practices such as formal appraisal system, training need identification, soft skills development programmes, re-skilling options, coaching and mentorship are all developed to meet this end.
A typical career span is 25 to 30 years, of which the middle management span lasts between 10 to 15 years for any individual. These spans are shortening and a typical person may undergo more than one middle management crisis. This span determines if a person will take the quantum leap to an executive role or remain in the mid-tier in the organisation.
Organisations are also evolving on this matter and have their constraints in holding on to the employees who have spent too long in the middle layer especially those who have not shown signs of scaling up in the ladder or proactively scaling down their aspirations. If the expectations of these people aren’t set right it leads to dissatisfaction and affects the performance in this layer. Organisations that have managed the mid management layer well have succeeded in building a scalable and sustainable organisation. This is the talent pool available to build the next generation organisation.
large MNCs have given an increased focus to this layer as these are the next generation leaders, who are culturally attuned to the organisation and help develop the young talent pool that will take on higher responsibilities in future. This is also the layer that is the recipient of the management bandwidth and it is in the interest of the organisation that these people assume the mantle of next level leadership after having vested so much on these individuals.
leadership programmes launched by the companies to up-skill managers and also identify potential performers has yielded positive results in generating internally groomed managers. These programmes are tailored to suit an organisation’s need and it’s DNA. While the employee must maximise the potential of these programmes, one should also look outside the structured programmes at peer group other than his organisation.
The key to success is to retain one’s relevance always in the organisation and the changing market place. It may be worth for the employee to take a sabbatical and take up academic courses to up-skill and thereby reboot the career. Many organisations facilitate these programmes and an employee must realise and maximise its utility.
Organisations have run special programmes to re-attract talented women employees who have taken a break from their career to further their family building aspirations. Such programmes have proved very successful in nurturing talent and with minimal settling in time.
Many Mid-level managers have managed these mid-career blues by making a career switch into completely different area of expertise, thereby challenging themselves and rejuvenating their thinking abilities. This needs tremendous confidence, ability to operate out of their comfort zone and experiment without fear of failure. Organisations have increasingly started looking at such talented people with good pedigree to add variety in their management structure and thereby questioning the time tested practices within their own organisations. After all, the middle management talent can’t be created fresh due to sheer generational aspects. The only way is to scout and nurture the scalable talent within the company or in the market place.
The bottom line is that an employee has to be aware of the environment where he operates and works constantly to retain his/her relevance in the organisation by making solid contribution to the organisation goals and also aspire to also grow in the cadre. There is no place for complacent employees in meritocratic organisations. Organisations always like pumped up employees and will go to any extent to nurture such talent. Career building is an employee’s responsibility and is achieved well if the organisational programmes are capitalised and leveraged.
The writer is COO, IKYA Human Capital Solutions.