The Manager’s Dilemma: Managing Performance at Scale

Learning & Development professionals: If you haven’t done so this year, it may be time to check in on your organization’s managers to see how they’re feeling. 

Supervisors are increasingly being asked to do more with less as they oversee leaner teams and loftier goals. The results can leave people leaders feeling scratchy and stretched in all directions. Maybe you even feel this way yourself! 

45% of employees say their workload has increased significantly in the past year, and managers often find themselves in the middle, searching for ways to scale results without sacrificing morale or well-being. It’s a challenging balance, and without the right support, even experienced leaders may struggle to sustain high performance within their teams. 

However, hope is not lost! L&D professionals have a real opportunity to help supervisors drive positive business outcomes while maintaining an engaging team environment. Through intentional training, coaching and capacity-building, you can offer managers the frameworks and confidence to lead their people effectively — even under increased pressure.  

Five Ways L&D Can Help to Scale Performance 

1. Invest in Coaching Skills 

85% of employees take more initiative when they receive feedback, and it’s important to remember that coaching can flow up and down the corporate ladder. L&D can elevate supervisors’ ability to mentor their teammates and manage up by helping them: 

• Develop coaching skills to deliver tailored feedback and offer timely reinforcement  
• Use one-on-one conversations to encourage growth and promote autonomy  
• Reset expectations with their bosses and staff to define reasonable goals given capacity constraints

2. Refine Performance Management Practices

Companies are four times more likely to outperform their peers when they focus on their staff’s performance. To promote productivity and accountability, managers can develop a formalized, consistent approach to defining outcomes and evaluating output. L&D can offer training and on-demand resources that allow people leaders to: 

• Set clear expectations around goals and shared priorities that align with business objectives 
• Measure employee performance using fair, objective standards while also identifying and closing skill gaps 
• Recognize individual and collective achievements 

3. Amplify Data Analysis Skills

Numbers can come together to tell a compelling story if we have the capacity to read them. Ensuring managers are comfortable translating analytics into results is more important than ever with 95% of organizations planning to enhance their data-driven decision-making capabilities. L&D can boost these capabilities by training supervisors to: 

• Present and communicate key performance indicators (KPIs) and data in a clear, engaging way 
• Connect team responsibilities to business value and return on investment (ROI) 
• Use analytics to inform resource allocation and determine areas for process improvements 

4. Boost Connection 

Employees who engage in collaborative work are 50% more productive than those who work independently, so it’s important that people leaders are equipped with the skills to help their teams work effectively with one another. L&D can increase performance by:  

• Offering managers a menu of workshops and activities that build collaboration and critical thinking skills 
• Facilitating training experiences and discussion prompts to promote trust and psychological safety 
• Delivering coaching sessions that help supervisors use their team’s distinct perspectives to problem solve and innovate

5. Identify Working Styles to Drive Results

According to a survey of 200,000 employees, the #1 reason they go the extra mile at work is having the respect of their peers. Ensure that people leaders can create the conditions for staff to perform at their best by cultivating an environment where teammates feel appreciated and valued. L&D may guide managers by: 

• Providing resources to recognize and honor teammates’ communication preferences so they feel understood and supported 
• Empowering them with assessments to understand their teams’ individual Thinking and Behavioral Attributes and their impact on work styles and preferences 
• Leading workshops and providing digital tools that help colleagues recognize and value one another’s strengths 

Activating The Recommendations 

While each of these training opportunities offer valuable support to your managers, you will have the greatest impact by aligning learning with business needs. Make sure to consult with senior leaders to identify the most pressing areas of focus, like revenue, retention or productivity. These priorities will then help you identify where to focus first.  

Also, remember that, when managers are pulled in multiple directions, they may not have much time to dedicate to learning. As you consider how to implement the tactics above, I encourage L&D teams to offer micro-learning formats so people leaders can access the information on their own time. Assess how you can build up these skills with simple tools like conversation prompts, scripts, eLearning and even decision trees.  

Delegating Projects Under Pressure 

My team was recently tasked with designing and delivering professional development for our internal Emergenetics staff on top of an already active workload. I used the following steps to complete this assignment successfully and efficiently. Offer this template to your organization’s managers as a resource for when they need to distribute important projects to their teams when they already have full plates:  

1. Meet with the subject matter expert: Pinpoint the desired outcomes of the project before explaining the request to the team.
2. Share the expectations: Inform staff of the task and goals at-hand and solicit questions to ensure clarity.
3. Empower teammates with ownership: Encourage employees to act autonomously in developing their deliverables, while being available as a sounding board when needed.

While the clarity certainly helped, I also recognize that the team felt capable of moving forward and sharing when roadblocks arose because of the psychological safety we have built. If nothing else, empowering your leaders to inspire trust is a strong foundation for success. 

Working Smarter, Not Harder 

Boosting performance at scale does not mean you have to adopt a third-third Assertive pace every single day. It’s about moderating your approach to best support your staff while keeping focus on business objectives. With the right tools and insights, supervisors can reach new heights without burnout. L&D teams will serve as a vital partner in this effort, helping to build the skillsets, mindsets and collaborative atmosphere that turn high expectations into meaningful achievements. 

Interested in more tips to help your organization’s supervisors? Download our eBook, The Manager’s Dilemma: Navigating Corporate Mandates and Team Needs!   

Or, fill out the form below to speak with one of our staff members about how Emergenetics can elevate your corporate climate!  

 Print This Post