Did you know that 81% of frontline supervisors say they are not satisfied with their own performance? They rate having difficult conversations, coaching, and engaging their teams as top challenges.
These statistics from advisory firm Clark Schaefer Hackett are eye-opening, and organizations should not overlook them. Especially since frontline managers supervise 80% of company employees in a typical organization. Think of the impact they have on business results.
What’s more, the firm points out that 60% of frontline leaders say they want more formal training and external professional coaching than they are currently getting, and only 12% believe their organization invests sufficiently in their development. A report from LinkedIn Learning adds that 94% of employees would stay at a company longer if it invested in their learning and growth.
The HR Exchange Network, an online news resource for human resource professionals, uses an airplane analogy to explain. “Think of your company as an airplane. The employees are the turbines that keep your plane flying. Just like any plane, the engines need maintenance and constant fine tuning. A strong training program provides that sought after maintenance. Without it, the plane will eventually get grounded, and those turbines will have to be replaced. In other words, the employees will leave and go somewhere they can get the training they want and need.”
Now more than ever, employees want to improve their skills and continue building on the ones they have. Businesses that invest in their employees gain a foot up on the competition; retain the talent they currently have instead of spending time, money and resources on new hires; and enforce commitment and dedication among its workforce. It also sets the business up for the future and is critical to organizational success.
We often say that the front line drives the bottom line. Developing high quality leaders can help companies not only achieve standards and deliver results but exceed them.
Explore our Supervisor Leadership Program for more information.
