The Importance of Training New Managers in Interpersonal Relations

In today’s business world, effective leadership is a critical component in ensuring workplace engagement, productivity, and profitability. The existing body of literature on organizational leadership often focuses on transformational leadership, which emphasizes mutual interaction with followers, appeals to higher needs, and inspires and motivates followers to move towards a specific purpose.

However, anecdotal evidence suggests that toxic leaders and managers – those who are unpredictable, disrespectful, short-sighted in goal planning, rigid, and discourage feedback and creativity – may actually be more prevalent in workplaces than transformational leaders. This poses a serious problem, as low employee morale leads to higher turnover rates, which cost companies money.

Despite the importance of effective leadership, many companies still engage in the practice of promoting workers into management positions based on their current work merits, rather than aptitude for building relationships and engaging others. This pathway into management gives rise to managerial incompetence, which can drive employee cynicism and turnover.

Furthermore, there has not been much scholarly research done on toxic leadership, nor on the effect these leaders and managers have on their staff members. However, popular management and leadership discourse appears to address the issue much more acutely.

So, if companies want to give their new managers the best chance of becoming effective leaders, it’s time to start looking at ways to train them to relate to their people and sustain engagement. Research shows that front-line managers and the care and support they provide to their employees are instrumental in employee engagement and disengagement.

The Importance of Interpersonal Relations Training for New Managers

Low employee morale leads to higher turnover rates, which, in turn, cost companies money. The cost of employee turnover can be as high as 30% of annual salary for lower-skilled workers and up to 250% of annual salary for highly specialized positions.

Managerial interventions can mitigate this phenomenon, and employee cynicism, which is a precursor to turnover, has been empirically attributed to management incompetence and ineffectiveness. Additionally, employee satisfaction on the job can be directly influenced by interactions with management.

It’s essential that companies start looking at ways to train their first-time managers to be better at interacting with their direct reports. Unfortunately, many companies promote workers into management positions based solely on their current work merits, ignoring their aptitude for interpersonal relations.

Research has shown that promoting individual contributors into management without considering their ability to build meaningful relationships, communicate effectively, and engage employees is ill-advised. In fact, this pathway into management gives rise to managerial incompetence, which can drive employee cynicism and turnover.

Therefore, it’s crucial that new managers understand the relational aspects of their roles. Interpersonal relations training can work to mitigate the problem of poor management that leads to employee dissatisfaction and turnover. Training can help new managers relate to their people and sustain engagement, leading to a reduction in employee turnover and saving the company’s bottom line.

Conclusion

In conclusion, effective leadership is essential to ensure workplace engagement, productivity, and profitability. However, anecdotal evidence suggests that toxic leaders and managers may be more prevalent in workplaces than transformational leaders.

Low employee morale leads to higher turnover rates, which cost companies money. Therefore, it’s crucial that companies start looking at ways to train their first-time managers to be better at interacting with their direct reports.

Interpersonal relations training can work to mitigate the ongoing problem of poor management that leads to employee dissatisfaction and turnover. Companies need to understand the importance of effective leadership and take steps to enhance workplace engagement, productivity, and profitability.