Training Industry Magazine - Summer 2023 - 30

Engaging senior managers either
in title or years of experience is an
excellent way to help them give back
to the organization. This allows those
managers to broaden their visibility and
relationships within the organization and
flex a different set of muscles.
Those managers being coached also
receive practical feedback and coaching
from someone who has been successful
in the organization. Managers can use
these coaching relationships as a safe
place to voice sticky situations or new
situations they have never dealt with
from someone who may have walked in
their shoes.
The Manager Ecosystem
Supporting middle managers in today's environment
is critical to inspiring an engaged workforce, creating
a sense of belonging, building productive teams and
driving business results.
Providing personalized
feedback and coaching to
managers will contextualize
the skills and behaviors.
Meaningful rewards
Our final component of the manager
ecosystem is rewards and recognition.
Often, organizations give accolades
to individuals or project teams, and,
of course, that is a very helpful way
to acknowledge great work. What
would happen if there were awards
and recognition for the best people
managers in an organization? This
would do a few things:
1. It would emphasize that leadership
values people management.
2. It would help our managers feel good
and valued.
3. It would reinforce the skills and
behaviors we desire.
Rewards and recognition can take
many forms. These can include sending
thank-you notes, featuring managers
on your employee portal, telling
30
Focusing on learning and development alone will not be
enough to provide the level of support and reinforcement
managers need today. Focusing on five facets of a
holistic manager ecosystem will create necessary clarity
and communicate a commitment to managers.
1. Appropriate spans of control.
2. Clear expectations.
3. Impactful development.
4. Personalized coaching.
5. Meaningful rewards.
Focusing on all five facets of the manager ecosystem
takes effort and commitment on behalf of L&D and
leadership. The five facets, when tackled in the
order listed, work together to support and reinforce
manager behaviors, which will lead to better
engagement and results.
stories of successful managers, giving
awards - monetary or otherwise - for
star managers, and tying bonuses or
salary adjustments to people manager
expectations and behaviors.
The idea is to provide all of the
above, but these rewards should
match the culture. If the culture isn't
one of rewards and recognition, start
small by featuring managers through
recognition or storytelling.
Enabling managers is one of the most
important priorities for businesses today.
With constant change, lingering burnout,
work and personal life balance struggles,
shifting teams, layoffs, restructures,
financial demands and economic
uncertainty, our managers are the linchpin
to our success.
Focusing on all five components of the
manager ecosystem will ensure clarity,
commitment, consistency and results.
Kacie Walters is the owner of Kacie
Walters Consulting focused on learning,
leadership, culture, and change strategies.
Email Kacie.
http://www.kaciewalters.com/ http://www.kaciewalters.com/
Training Industry Magazine - Summer 2023

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