Landing a management role used to be seen as the ultimate milestone. However, that seems to be changing…
Today, we’re going to talk about a career and workforce trend that’s starting to unfold. |
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| Curious? Keep reading below! Landing a management role used to be seen as the ultimate milestone. However, that seems to be changing… The past few years have been rough for the middle management of Corporate America. Once considered crucial in managing teams and serving as a training ground for future leaders, the middle layer has fallen prey to the flattening of corporate structures in recent years. One-third of middle managers made up around one-third of layoffs in 2023. Gartner projects that one in five firms will let go of more than half of their middle managers by the end of 2026. Another factor that has sped up this flattening process is the emergence and rapid development of artificial intelligence (AI) tools. With AI models getting better at a rapid pace, many companies are increasingly using them to flatten their organizational structures to increase efficiency, cut costs, and become more agile. This flattening has been questioned, though. Industry observers argue that the removal of middle managers could cause a leadership gap in companies long term. This is because the middle layer serves as a training ground for future company leaders. The latter manages teams, coordinates efforts across multiple departments, and is trained to move the C-suite. If this section of an organization’s structure is eliminated completely, then firms will have a hard time promoting new people into senior leadership roles. Internal candidates may not have the necessary experience needed for the C-suite. As for external hires, recruiting them will become more difficult and expensive. This being the case, managerial roles aren’t going away, but they will be significantly reduced moving forward. Companies will still need a middle layer to manage teams and avoid overwhelming senior leadership with a high number of direct reports. This means workers will still get promoted to managerial roles. However, there’s a problem. It seems that a growing number of workers no longer want to become managers.
… but wait, isn’t landing a managerial role one of the career milestones workers aspire for? Well, for decades, that has been true. However, that seems to be changing. According to a report from staffing agency Aerotek, 41% of job seekers no longer want managerial or supervisory roles. In addition, 55% don’t want to move up to those roles. The report found that career advancement for those whom they interviewed involves “mastering a trade, deepening expertise, expanding one’s scope of work or making lateral moves into new specialties.” Said another way, in their eyes, a managerial role isn’t the only way of advancing one’s career. While this report is limited to job seekers, it does indicate that there’s a significant shift in the attitude of workers towards managerial roles. So, what caused this change in outlook? Caroline Castrillon, an expert in career leadership and identity in the modern workplace, provides a few reasons.
The shifting attitudes toward managerial roles can be interpreted through the lens of RDS. According to Professor Joel Litman and Dr. Mark L. Frigo in the book, “Driven” : “Companies succeed when employees and other individuals are aligned with the organization’s goals in creating and delivering the offerings that fulfill customers’ unmet needs. To accomplish this, individuals need to be engaged.” When seen through RDS, the loss of desire to move up to managerial roles starts to make sense. The perception of workers towards career advancement are changing. Hence, they need new ways of being engaged to actually consider managerial roles. This goes to show that new methods of engagement need to be employed if leadership teams want to attract talent to managerial roles. Sure, organizations are able to move faster now because of AI. However, there are still certain aspects of their operations that will require managers whether they like it or not. As a result, new ways of enticing or retaining talent will need to be discovered and employed moving forward. — If you’re looking to gain a better understanding of Return Driven Strategy and Career Driven Strategy, we highly recommend checking out “Driven” by Professor Litman and Dr. Frigo. Click here to get your copy and learn how this framework can help you in your business strategies and ultimately, in ethically maximizing wealth for your firm. Hope you found this week’s insights interesting and helpful. Stay tuned for next Tuesday’s Return Driven Strategy! Imagine you’re trying to help someone with math homework over the Internet… Learn more about the founder of Khan Academy through the lens of Career Driven Strategy (CDS) in next week’s article! |
Miles Everson
CEO of MBO Partners and former Global Advisory and Consulting CEO at PwC, Everson has worked with many of the world's largest and most prominent organizations, specializing in executive management. He helps companies balance growth, reduce risk, maximize return, and excel in strategic business priorities.
He is a sought-after public speaker and contributor and has been a case study for success from Harvard Business School.
Everson is a Certified Public Accountant, a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and Minnesota Society of Certified Public Accountants. He graduated from St. Cloud State University with a B.S. in Accounting.
