Line managers are essential to driving change in organisations – successful transformation can’t happen without them. They have daily conversations with employees and their impact on behaviours is vital. And it is these conversations that are at the heart of any successful career strategy because they ensure that career needs are understood and matched with the future skillset that both employees and organisations need to prosper.
The uncomfortable truth, though, is that line managers are often time poor, frequently working though disruption, and with little training or experience in career conversations. There’s a real need to create timely, practical and affordable development solutions to help them. This is not least because exploring career opportunities helps retention – it is often the lack of career development and growth that results in talented employees moving on.
And this is why our solutions such as Career inspirer seek to upskill managers, so that they feel more confident, amongst many other things, to:
- Align organisational and individual aspirations. Line managers can help employees understand how embracing change can align with their personal career goals. They have a unique understanding of their employees, allowing them to tailor their career development needs in the cause of transformation.
- Build resilience in their teams. Line managers need open communication to address employees’ unique challenges and circumstances. And this then acts as a precursor to helping them build their resilience, and experience learning and growth, through times of change and transformation.
- Leverage a team’s agility. Rapidly changing organisations mean an emerging awareness of skills gaps in teams. Line managers need to work closely with employees to identify the gaps that may hinder their future career and the organisation’s agility for growth. And these gaps can then be addressed through providing them with career development opportunities – such as stretch experiences, new connections and support for lateral movement outside teams – to enhance their skills.
- Build a culture of continuous learning. Line managers can commit, with employees, to a culture of continuous learning. This is vital because of rapid changes in the workplace (and in society), the encouragement of a diversity of perspectives and innovation. On a daily basis, continuous learning could mean more room for reflection, experimenting with AI and the encouragement of curiosity more generally.
The ability of line managers to foster trust, set expectations, and communicate effectively with their employees makes them indispensable in driving organisational change. Find out more about how Career inspirer can support line managers to achieve change through everyday behaviours.
