This is an excerpt from The Times special report “The Global Talent Economy” (30 September 2022).
In this article, journalist Cath Everett talks to experts about the evolving role of the Line Manager in leading remote teams. Please download the PDF below to read the full article on page 20.
“Managing the New Remote Workforce”
by Cath Everett
Employers are increasingly aware of the vital role that the line manager plays in hybrid and remote-working contexts.
The role of the Line Manager has changed over the past few years. Once considered the ‘frozen middle’, the Line Manager plays an increasingly important role as conduit between senior executives and employees;
“Line managers are trying to balance traditional responsibilities, such as managing and motivating performance, with representing the business from a values perspective and translating that vision to the workforce. There is also the additional challenge of supporting employee wellbeing and amplifying employee voice, so they have a huge amount of responsibility” (says Mary Beighton, People Director at Zuto).
“Managers need to become connectors. This means facilitating connection-focused conversations to ensure employees are highly engaged…”
Mike Thackray says: “Line managers need to be able to dial up all of the skills that were always necessary before but now it’s to a whole new level,” he explains. “This includes emotional intelligence because the need to understand individual situations, circumstances and needs has become so much more important.”
Other key skills include effective decision-making, particularly in relation to hybrid-working practices and especially if clear organisational guidelines do not exist.
A key problem here, though, Thackray says, is that “some managers just haven’t got the skills or confidence to make those kinds of calls. Not least because as soon as you make a decision for one person and it’s different for another, you lay yourself open to challenge.”
This can result in Line Managers feeling caught in the middle between senior executives and their employees.
The article goes on to explore how organisations can begin to support Line Managers in their evolving role. For example, (Zuto) “has updated its management development programme to include new modules on resilience and holding difficult conversations. It also opened up participation in both areas to any interested employees, to help them feel more equipped to deal with any challenges”.
“Some managers just haven’t got the skills or confidence to make those kinds of calls. Not least because as soon as you make a decision for one person and it’s different for another, you lay yourself open to challenge…”
Read the article in full by downloading the PDF below.
For more information, please contact Mike Thackray at mike.thackray@oecam.com.
