Gallup State of the American Manager report

Gallup released its State of the American Manager report and the results are pretty disheartening: there continues to be very low engagement among workers and management accounts for a high percentage of that disengagement. Talent for management lies in only 10% of the people, while another 20% possess the foundations to be successful managers. The result of this is that only 18% of managers have the high talent necessary to excel as managers. According to Gallup, this is a problem since talent is the most powerful predictor of performance.


There is good news, however. Taking the time to find, cultivate and hire the right manager will have long ranging ramifications for the company; increased employee engagement, increased productivity and sales and decreased employee turnover. Good managers not only improve employee and company performance, but they engage their employees.


So, what separates good managers from the not-so-good? Good managers have the following talents in common: they motivate their employees, they are assertive, they make decisions based on productivity, they create a culture of accountability, and they build relationships. Managers that possess these talents are more likely to have engaged and productive teams. Looking for these traits in employees can also help to identify potential future management material. By learning how to pick out talented employees, companies can pave the way for current, and future success.


In order to improve employee engagement, managers can focus on being more open and accessible, consistently discuss employee performance and goal attainment and focus on strengths. By communicating frequently with employees about their work and their life leads to a better relationship, trust and satisfaction at work. There has been a lot of talk about ongoing performance evaluations, but waiting until the end of the year them is poor management. Performance should be ongoing with adjustments made as necessary. This will really show your employees that you care about their growth and that you are ready to help them succeed. interestingly, employees perform better when their strengths are highlighted. They are significantly more engaged when they get to use their strengths and their weaknesses are not constantly highlighted. That does not mean that weaknesses are ignored, but that the focus is on making their strengths stronger.


Learning about what employees want will help any manager improve. Also, the only way to improve leadership is through self-awareness and emotional intelligence, and from the looks of this report; we could all use it.


Here is the link to the full report:
http://www.gallup.com/services/182138/state-american-manager.aspx