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.
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… 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.
- Management is no longer a reward. Castrillon says advancement is no longer about moving up into leadership roles. It’s about “growing in ways that feel professionally valuable and personally sustainable.”
- Poor management experiences are pushing workers away. Poor culture and ineffective leadership are identified as reasons why workers leave roles early.
- Career growth is moving towards nonlinearity and flexibility. Workers no longer rely on a single job. Many hold other jobs on top of their existing employment. Castrillon also says workers are building skills and experience beyond their current roles.
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.
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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.
About The Dynamic Marketing Communiqué’s
“Tuesdays: Return Driven Strategy”
In the book, “Driven,” authors Professor Joel Litman and Dr. Mark L. Frigo said that the goal of every long-term successful business strategy should incorporate the combined necessity of “making the world a better place” and “getting wealthy.”
That is why they created Return Driven Strategy and Career Driven Strategy―frameworks that were built to help leaders and professionals plan and evaluate businesses so they can also help others achieve their organizational goals and career goals.
The frameworks describe the plans and actions that drive returns for anyone in an organization such as independent contractors, marketers, brand managers, communicators, and other people in any field. These actions lead to the creation of wealth and value for customers, employees, shareholders, and the society.
Every Tuesday, we’ll highlight case studies, business strategies, tips, and insights related to Return Driven Strategy and Career Driven Strategy.
In planning, building, or managing brands and businesses, these strategies, case studies, and guidelines will help you choose what specific actions to take and when to take them.
Hope you find this week’s topic interesting and helpful.
Stay tuned for next Tuesday’s “Return Driven Strategy!”
Cheers,
Adrian Kyle Vergara
Content Writer
Valens Dynamic Marketing Capabilities
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