Being a line manager can be a pretty tricky place to be, finding yourself somewhere between cascading and promoting the message from senior leaders within the organisation and flying the flag for employees.  All too often as well, we put individuals into a line manager role and expect them to change overnight, being able to support and manage a team without any mentoring, coaching or other form of training.

So what skills and qualities do we need to help line managers to develop to enable them to be effective in their role?

I guess if I had to choose the top 3 I would say that somewhere near the top of the list has to be communication; being able to communicate in a manner that will engage others at all levels of the organisation.  Line managers probably influence employee engagement more than anyone else in the organisation and as such how they interact with others is a key factor in this.

Communication is a complex area though and it is vital to look at all areas such as developing trust, active listening, giving feedback and recognition and understanding and managing their own mood and temperament.

Secondly I would say we need to help managers to develop the qualities and attributes needed to manage change.  Line managers play a key role in making or breaking successful change within a business; they need to be active in pursuing change as well as driving it forward. Line managers often have a double dilemma in that they are likely to be affected by the change themselves and need to be able to embrace this and adapt within themselves; at the same time they need to be able to support others through the change so that they too embrace and adapt.  All of this comes with the requirement to still do the day job.

For me, the third key attribute would be about the line manager understanding and developing their own team.  A good starting place for this has to be understanding each member of the team and helping them to understand themselves and what each brings to the group.

Not only does this bring insight to the team but it also helps the line manager to adapt their own style according to individuals and the group.  Managers who are willing to invest time and energy in their team will find that this supports morale and engagement.  It also enhances performance, particularly alongside a culture of learning from mistakes, being open and honest within the team.

There are a whole host of further skills and attributes that we should develop within line managers and the whole scenario is not set in stone, particularly given that we live and work in a world of constant change.

How does your organisation support the development of line managers?

Julie Gordon heads up the team at cHRysos HR Solutions, an organisation specialising in the delivery of HR and Leadership-related training, professional qualifications, as well as HR and business consultancy services. With over 20 years’ experience in learning and development within the private and public sector, Julie’s key strengths are now in the management of the learning and development process and in work-based learning. As well as working in industry, Julie has held various academic teaching posts and has published journal papers in the field of learning and development.