What Makes an Effective Manager?

An effective manager is crucial for driving business results, from engagement and belonging to productivity and retention. We know it’s top of mind for most HR leaders, but what does it take to really move the needle and increase the number of effective managers at an organization — and what are the outcomes?

Dr. Natalie Baumgartner, Chief Workforce Scientist at Achievers recently joined Marcel Schwantes, host of Love in Action Podcast, for an in-depth discussion on how to improve manager effectiveness to drive better employee and business outcomes.

This 45-minute comprehensive podcast, The Foundations of Manager Effectiveness, dove into findings from Achievers Workforce Institute’s latest report, Empowering people leaders in the new world of work, and provided key takeaways that HR leaders can action today to improve and empower manager effectiveness in their organizations.

What makes a manager ineffective?

If your managers are not prioritizing contact, recognition, coaching, and professional development, they’re falling short. Research has uncovered a direct correlation between manager effectiveness and belonging. Managers who don’t foster a sense of belonging among their employees won’t be as successful. Achievers Workforce Institute found that:

Individuals who feel a deep sense of belonging at work are more likely to experience greater job satisfaction, better mental health, higher levels of productivity, and lower levels of both fatigue and emotional exhaustion.
Manager effectiveness and sense of belonging have a strong positive correlation. Employees who would recommend their manager are almost twice as likely to have a strong sense of belonging, compared to average, and over five times more likely than those who would not recommend their manager.

What makes an effective manager?

There are four pillars of an effective manager:

Contact
Recognition
Coaching
Professional development

When employees say their manager is good at one of the above factors, it doubles the likelihood that they would recommend their manager. When all four are present, mNPS scores (a measure of whether or not an employee would recommend their manager) almost triples.