Empowering Middle Managers with Qualee

Middle managers arguably have one of the most difficult jobs in the workplace, often seen as the ‘mediator’ between senior leadership and employees working on the ground. Although middle managers are responsible for managing and leading teams, they also need to balance the expectations of those above them, making it a fine balancing act. With so much responsibility on their shoulders, middle managers face a multitude of challenges in the workplace, which can have a negative impact on operational efficiency and business success. There are however a range of strategies that can be adopted to empower middle managers in the workplace to improve productivity and overall employee experience.

The Importance of Middle Managers in the Workplace

Middle managers play an important role in the workplace, mainly responsible for bridging the gap between the strategy of senior leadership and the execution of tasks by employees on the ground. Additionally, middle managers are responsible for managing, mentoring and leading teams below them, ensuring that tasks are completed and that employees are motivated and supported whilst doing their jobs. Furthermore, middle managers also have the responsibility of effectively communicating the strategy that senior management decides on, to the employees on the ground. Effective communication is crucial in any organization, and if middle managers break the communication chain, the organization usually suffers as a consequence, making it imperative for middle managers to efficiently convey accurate messaging. Another key reason why middle managers are important in the workplace is that they are most often involved in solving problems and managing issues as they arise, due to them always having a pulse on operations or employee matters. Lastly, middle managers play an important role in customer relations, most of the time having a direct relationship with customers, which if good or bad, could either make or break an organization.

Challenges Faced by Middle Managers in the Workplace

Whilst middle managers play an important role in the workplace, it does come with many challenges.

Balancing Expectations
The first challenge being balancing the expectations of senior leadership with those working on the ground. Senior leaders will expect the strategy to be executed appropriately and middle managers will need to answer to them if things do not go to plan. In the same breath, middle managers also need to set clear expectations with employees working on the ground and ensure that the strategy and plans crafted by senior leadership are followed.

Managing Stress
Because middle managers often have a lot on the go whilst managing teams, reporting to senior leadership on progress and constantly driving to meet targets, they are more likely to  experience high levels of stress and burn out.

Little decision-making autonomy
Although middle managers are responsible for the majority of the day-to-day operations and managing of teams/people, most of their guidance and management of employees on the ground comes from orders from senior leadership. Middle managers will often need to seek approval from senior leadership on big projects, budget, new hires and extra resources.

Lack of resources
Middle managers are held accountable for their performance and deliverables, but without the necessary resources, they have to create contingency plans, which can be frustrating and time consuming. Due to the lack of resources available, middle managers may need to prioritize tasks and projects, to ensure they are completed efficiently and effectively.

Strategies for Empowering Middle Managers in the Workplace

Clear Communication
Because middle managers find themselves in the middle of having top-down and bottom-up conversations, they need to constantly ensure that they are communicating effectively and that everyone understands what is required and expected of them.

Prioritize and execute tasks efficiently
With so many deadlines, projects and team members to manage, middle managers need to learn to prioritize and delegate tasks accordingly, this will allow them to think clearly and not become overwhelmed or stressed.

Use data to make decisions
Making use of data to drive decision making is not only more efficient, but you are more likely to achieve results by looking at objective data, as opposed to taking direction from subjective views.

Use tools, software where possible
The working world is evolving at a rapid pace with many new innovative tools and software being developed and introduced on a daily basis. To avoid hours of manual work and inefficiency, middle managers should look for tools that will help them become more efficient and productive in their jobs.

How Qualee can help Empower Middle Managers

Communicating clearly
Communicate clearly and efficiently with leaders and direct reports using Qualee’s secure Messaging function. With translations for over 130 languages, it ensures everyone is understood and as a result, they can be productive in their jobs. Qualee’s Messaging feature enables sharing of various file types, whether it be to an individual, group of people or a whole team, covering all potential bases when needing to communicate with colleagues.

Using real-time data to drive decisions
Make informed decisions using Qualee Analytics, enabling middle managers to extract actionable insights from real-time data. This reduces the need for decision-making input from senior leadership and gives middle managers the autonomy to make objective decisions that will drive business success.

Obtain feedback
Gather feedback seamlessly using Qualee’s Surveys or eNPS solution. This enables middle managers to get a realistic understanding of their reports’ employee experience. Middle managers are also able to detect improvement opportunities in real-time, making the feedback process more efficient and reducing the need for unnecessary meetings and strategy sessions with colleagues.

Automate onboarding
Forget time-consuming, manual onboarding, middle managers can automate onboarding with Qualee Journeys. Customize onboarding journeys to suit the needs of your organization and ensure that employees are aligned and supported from the get go.

Upskill and train
Easily create micro-learning courses or leverage existing content and upload SCORM courses to upskill existing employees through a mobile app that ensures accessibility at all times.

Adhere to compliance requirements
Reduce time spent on administration work and make use of Qualee’s automated identity verification feature, allowing you to authenticate an identity document from more than 240 countries in a matter of minutes.

Identify problems
Promote a people-first culture and identify problems before they escalate with Qualee’s Speak Up/whistleblowing feature that allows employees to anonymously report incidents in a secure mobile app.

Conclusion

‍
In conclusion, middle managers play a crucial role in the workplace, often shouldering many responsibilities. Although middle managers may face a multitude of challenges, such as balancing expectations between senior leadership and employees on the ground, there are strategies that can empower middle managers in their day-to-day jobs, such as making use of innovative software. Qualee’s employee experience solution offers various features for empowering middle managers. From using real-time data to drive decisions or identifying problems before they escalate, Qualee shares the load of responsibility and empowers the role of a middle manager, allowing them to be more efficient and productive.

‍