Those of us who seek career promotion sometimes struggle to understand those who don’t. Because progression to management is something we wanted, we tend to assume that it’s what everyone wants.
Yet it turns out that we’re in the minority. A recent large survey in America indicates that only around a third of people aspire to be managers- and of these, only 7% aspire to be top-level managers.
As a manager, you know better than anyone how tough managing people can be, but in deciding how to develop your team members, it’s important to understand the major reasons given for avoiding the management track.
In the survey (people were allowed to select more than one reason):
- (52%) said that they don’t want management because they are happy in their current roles. Excellent- but ignore this group at your peril. We’ll come back to this later.
- (34%) said they didn’t want to work longer hours or sacrifice their work-life balance.
- The remaining reasons given were: lack of necessary degrees (21%), lack of self-belief in their skills (16%), and finally, lack of belief that the company will ever offer the opportunity to them, so they don’t bother trying (14%).
As a manager, you need to begin by identifying who are the ones who just don’t want management responsibility- ever, and who are the ones holding back just because they have low-self belief, don’t think they are qualified or don’t believe the company will ever offer it to them.
The ones who are just fearful or under qualified are ripe for management training; they simply need more skills training and confidence. They DO want to be managers; they just haven’t made it clear.
Now let’s go back to those who don’t want management responsibility because they’re happy in their roles. I’m sure you can think of a few people in your company who clearly don’t want leadership roles: they just want to get on with their jobs.
Firstly, we need to reassess the word ‘leader’ in this context: for you don’t have to manage people in an official capacity to be a leader. Think of all those highly talented individuals in your company who are doing great things but don’t have anyone reporting to them. Scientists, medics, programmers, creative types- surely they are company leaders (and where would we be without them?) But they have no interest in leadership.
So if your employees say they don’t want to be on the management track, does that mean you can ignore them when it comes to training?
Well, that depends if you’re willing to lose them!
Why should you develop employees who don’t want leadership roles?
- Employees need growth, or they become bored, and emails from head-hunters offering exciting new challenges suddenly start becoming very interesting.
- Employees need to see that you value their skills and are willing to invest in them so they can get better at their jobs- and bring more value to the business in return.
- Employees who can transfer into a new type of role within the company will stay with the company longer.
So invest in their education and skills training, offer them job transfers when things are getting stale, reward their efforts. Don’t push those who truly don’t want to be managers to apply for management roles or you will almost certainly end up with a poor manager.
After all, companies need those who don’t seek management positions. Can you imagine how cut-throat the workplace would be if everyone wanted to be the boss? Identify and encourage those that want it, yet don’t ignore further training for those who don’t.
In short, movement in companies goes in all directions, so don’t be blinded by upward trajectories on a hierarchy ladder. Employees can move sideways, expand into bigger roles, and get better at the jobs they have- and we all know they can go backwards!
By training all your team members in ways that suit their aspirations, you can increase job satisfaction, job performance and longevity. You just need to sit down with your employees and find out what their aspirations truly are.
Until next time,
Julia
