The cost of Accidental Management

We should probably explain what Accidental Management means, before we tell you why it can be bad for your organisation…

This survey, conducted by YouGov defined an ‘Accidental Manager’ as someone who has been in an organisation for years (or decades!), and has been promoted a few times until they found themselves in a management position purely because they were…there the longest?

This usually means that they’ve landed a senior role with no proper training in Management or Leadership – and this doesn’t often work out well! You’ve almost certainly met this kind of leader – and worked with them – and know how frustrating it can be, when a Leader doesn’t really know what they’re doing – or how to get the best from anyone else! 

 82% of people surveyed by the Chartered Management Institute report that, when they are promoted into a management role, they receive no proper training for the position.  

Unfortunately, a lot of people still think that management and leadership are ‘natural talents’ – that people either are or are not ‘a leader’, or that management roles are a natural progression for long-standing employees. 

Looking at the statistics again, more than a quarter of senior managers and leaders (26%) and over half of managers (52%) have never been given any formal management or leadership training.

Eek!

You might be wondering why that matters; after all – if such a large proportion of managers have never had formal training for their leadership role, surely, it’s because it’s not needed…? Why else would so many organisations promote people without providing any training or development?

31% of managers, and 28% of workers, have left previous roles or organisations because of a negative relationship with their manager.

So many people left jobs that were otherwise great:  jobs they loved, because of the negative impact one bad manager had. An impact that – with the right training and support – should never have happened!

Any organisation facing difficult times cuts back on spending (of course!) – and unfortunately, investment in training and development is one of the areas many cut costs first. Though it saves money in the short term, the bigger picture shows that those cuts result in far more expense…

Expense from things like losing the skills, experience and industry insight that come with your people, the expense of recruitment and retraining for new hires, the cost of lost hours and lost business when your team is trying to learn the ropes, and the cost of security, camaraderie and progress that comes with strong staff retention.

How can anyone Accidentally become a Manager or Leader?

 Accidental Leaders find themselves in a Management role for entirely the wrong reasons; maybe they wanted more money, or more power in their team? More control over the direction of the company or the way things are done? They might just have been in the organisation for years, and they – or their senior managers – felt like they deserved a promotion purely because they’ve ‘served their time’ – but does any of that guarantee that they are suitable for the role, or going to do it well?

46% of the managers surveyed believe that colleagues won their role / promotion based on their profile, internal relationships and influence, rather than on their ability or performance.

If your organisation doesn’t know how to specifically recruit for Leadership, or what a great Leader should look like, it seems like the safe choice to pick the person who wants it most, or to favour loyalty.