Replacing managers with coaches?
Statistically, only 23% of your team feel engaged at work[1] – that is, that they find their work meaningful, feel connected to the team and organisation, feel proud of their contribution and take ownership for the work they do. A shocking 77% of workers feel disengaged, 59% being “quiet quitters” and 18% being “loud quitters”. That’s an enormous number of people who are physically present but minimally productive, who feel psychologically disconnected from their team and organisation, are looking to leave and, in the more extreme “loud quitting” cases, may even behave in ways that directly harm the organisation and oppose the leadership.
So, what to do with these pretty dismal figures? Well, Gallup also found that 70% of team engagement is attributable to the manager. Helping managers do the right things would be a great step towards upping the engagement of teams.
One company, Time Etc., asked people they were hiring what they wanted from a manager and the common themes were goal-setting, feedback, personal and professional development opportunities and autonomy. Time Etc. recognised that what people wanted was more of a coach than a manager, so took the bold decision to replace managers with coaches, with a ratio of one coach per six employees. The coaches’ mission was to empower and support employees to achieve maximum productivity and success, through feedback, support to help individuals identify their strengths and work preferences and access to professional development.
The results were very encouraging: employees became 20% more productive and, perhaps more importantly, much happier[2].
The good news is that we, as leaders, have the opportunity to turn our “quitters” into thrivers by adjusting our leadership to a more coaching style – that is, one which:
believes that our people have skills, strengths and passions which we need to help them discover and utilise
asks questions rather than gives solutions
empowers people through a range of support rather than directs people and tells them what to do
Listens and creates a place for reflection
Allows people to try things out, possibly fail, and learn from experience
Helps people identify and move towards their goals
Using this approach could help us all build a more happy, productive, connected and engaged team.
[1] State of the Global Workplace: 2023 report– Gallup (https://www.gallup.com/workplace/349484/state-of-the-global-workplace.aspx)
[2] Fortune.com - https://fortune.com/2023/06/05/company-replaced-managers-coaches-employee-productivity-much-happier-work-careers/