Strategies for Effective Managers

What is an effective manager?

Effective managers are people managers who actively motivate their team, create a positive work environment, and help their employees learn new skills and grow in their careers, all while reaching the company’s goals.

Managers are the force multipliers of any business. Not only do they have the biggest impact on business performance they are also the most well-paid—and expensive to replace—and arguably have the most challenging jobs. Effective managers play a pivotal role in businesses and the people who work for them. They make countless decisions daily that collectively have a significant impact on their team members, and the organization at large

Managers are more stressed than ever before. With more direct reports than they can handle, higher expectations from employees, and too many responsibilities on their plate are just some of the causes. Many worry that so much stress can decrease manager effectiveness and, with it, the performance and productivity of the entire company. According to Gartner, leader and manager development is the top priority in 2024 for organizations.

The importance of effective managers

Managers can make or break teams. An effective manager is someone who motivates employees, understands them, and gives constructive feedback. Effective managers support their teams while driving productivity and profitability. Here are a few specific areas where manager effectiveness is crucial.

1. Employee engagement. Several factors come into play for engagement. One of them is manager effectiveness. A good leader can significantly improve the employee experience, increase their satisfaction, and help them become more engaged.

2. Conflict resolution. Without an effective manager, even the smallest conflicts in the workplace can turn into disasters for the entire company. A manager with strong interpersonal skills can manage conflicts, help the parties come to an understanding, and prevent things from escalating.

3. Productivity and employee performance. A good manager allocates tasks appropriately, provides clear directions, and helps teams work together for the best results. All this can optimize the workflow, allowing everyone to be more productive and perform better.

4. Innovation. When employees have managers who support and encourage them to share their ideas, there’s room for creativity. People feel valued when they know their contributions are valued, creating a culture of constant innovation.

3 habits of effective managers

1. Effective managers use data and analytics to make decisions

When managers and people leaders have the right data, analytics, and insights, they can take action to improve decision-making, collaboration, and innovation. So, before making any important decisions, setting goals, or even assessing someone’s performance, look at the data.

Start by reviewing core HR metrics and other KPIs, and dig in deeper with analytics. It will help you understand the “why” behind the numbers. Why are some employees more productive or engaged than others? Who are the highest performers on my team? How does my team compare to other teams in the organization?

2. Effective managers actively retain top talent

Good managers can retain top talent and they have a sense of the reasons why people leave—from low engagement to a poor job match or lack of goal setting to unsatisfactory compensation, or career progression.

Part of being an effective manager also means knowing how to keep the best talent on the team and take active preventative measures to mitigate the risk of turnover contagion after resignations or layoffs.

3. Effective managers continually develop talent

Effective managers understand the value of growing and developing top talent and the impact it has on their employees and the business. Employees want opportunities to work on new challenges and to grow their skills.

People managers develop, motivate, and engage talent to ensure employees are engaged and challenged, are recognized for their work, and have career path options to stay within the organization. Effective managers recognize potential in their direct reports and know how to motivate and support their employees. They prioritize talent development, learning and development (L&D) initiatives, and engage in regular career pathing discussions with their reports.

People analytics enable managers to be more effective

Effective management begins with leveraging people data and using people analytics to glean insights. Insights on demographics, talent, learning and development, and collaboration can help you become a better leader and respond to your team’s needs quickly. Use a people analytics platform with pre-built solutions that answer your most pressing questions about your team to make data-driven decisions. 

Effective managers leverage internal mobility programs to identify where employees can grow their career. People analytics can help you spot skills gaps and assess which employees are ready to upskill or reskill.

On any given day people managers are tasked with making critical decisions on the fly. Vee, Visier's generative AI digital assistant can deliver rapid responses in real-time during a budget meeting, for instance, and then it will offer managers additional suggestions to drill down even deeper.