How to Improve Managers, Improve Productivity and Improve Your Organization

The old truism that “you don’t quit a job, you quit your manager” has never been more relevant.

Look at the Great Resignation of 2021 and 2022, as well as “quiet quitting,” when employees do the absolute minimum to keep their jobs. While the job market has stabilized, there were still 3 million more open positions than unemployed people to fill them as of December 2023.¹

But it wasn’t only the COVID-19 pandemic or the job market that caused those trends: It was also the quality of leadership and management within organizations.

And the thought is not just borne out of folk wisdom or anecdotal evidence: 57% of unhappy employees quit their jobs because of their manager.²

The difference between a bad boss and an effective one

Effective managers and leaders can be enormous influences over the kind of culture that marks organizations where people want to work long term.

While it’s easier to define what makes a bad manager than an outstanding one, certain foundational behaviors mark an effective leader. Perhaps most important: Not only do good managers have the skills and expertise in their fields to make proper decisions, but they also are empathetic to the employees they supervise.

In regard to managers, empathy means the ability to understand the feelings and needs of others, to build trust and care about supervised employees.

It’s also about holding people accountable (and, in turn, being held accountable) for performance, while doing so in a supportive manner. Good, empathetic leaders help people become better employees without attacking them in the process.

Coaching, not advice

Becoming that kind of leader also means being attuned to a manager’s identity, knowing their career aspirations and how to reach their goals.

Coaching can play a vital role in reaching behavioral goals for bosses. Such coaching should be designed to help identify and address the behaviors needed to be more effective and set the right tone organization-wide.

In this context, coaching is not simply advice, training or even mentoring, but guiding bosses on how to overcome any mental blocks that have kept them from changing. For instance, a coach or trainer handing out a list of ideal behaviors and telling managers to follow those behaviors won’t change a thing.

Instead, it often requires challenging bosses to throw away assumptions about their employees and themselves, embracing an entire new way of thinking: What do you think is your leadership potential? What has held you back from reaching that potential? What do you need to change about yourself — no matter how difficult — in order to become a great leader?

This type of coaching is not easy, and it gets only harder as managers rise up the ranks. But businesses that can take this approach will have highly engaged employees, lower turnover and an organization of people better aligned to the business strategy.

Learn how HUB's People & Technology practice can help you develop high-performing leaders who elevate the organization.

¹ U.S. Chamber of Commerce, “Understanding America’s Labor Shortage,” December 19, 2023.
² Betterworks, “Employees Don’t Quit Their Jobs, They Quit Their Bosses,” April 8, 2022.