Manager Influence on Employees

Over the years, I’ve learned that the most valuable insights don’t just sit in reports—they emerge from conversations. Audits that truly drive impact don’t happen because we asked more questions; they happen because we asked better ones. That’s why my team and I dedicate time to engaging with stakeholders at every level. We’ve found that the most powerful questions: Challenge assumptions – Are we following this process because it works, or just because it’s always been done this way? (We recently found a control weakness buried under a “legacy” practice—one no one had questioned in years!) Reveal blind spots – What risks are hiding in plain sight? (One of our audits uncovered language barriers in employee surveys, leading to 72% of workers being unintentionally excluded from providing feedback!) Drive meaningful conversations – How can we turn compliance into a strategic advantage? (I’ve seen firsthand how shifting the conversation from “compliance burden” to business enabler opens doors for better governance.) This is why I see internal audit as more than just oversight—it’s a catalyst for innovation. This year, my focus has been on reinforcing our role as trusted business partners. Moving from checklists to collaborative discussions. Turning audits from a retrospective exercise into a forward-looking strategy. Ensuring our insights don’t just highlight risks—they drive value. And it all starts with asking the right questions. #InternalAudit #RiskManagement #Leadership #StrategicValue

Nothing impacts leadership success more than how you start. Here's my Week 1 Playbook for New Managers: There are many reasons more managers fail than succeed. And those mistakes often start in week 1. Study and bookmark this playbook. It'll help you skip my mistakes. And the ones I've seen hundreds of managers make. 5 COMMON NEW MANAGER MISTAKES ❌ Racing to prove value • Rushing changes to show impact • Undermining emerging trust ❌ Skipping 1:1 connections • Relying on group meetings • Missing crucial context ❌ Leading with authority • Flexing positional power • Creating resistance ❌ Focusing on tasks • Diving into operational details • Missing subtle team dynamics ❌ Promising quick fixes • Making commitments without context • Setting impossible expectations 5 WISE NEW MANAGER MOVES: ✅ Study before stepping in • Review metrics, plans, org charts • Enter conversations prepared ✅ Lead with vulnerability • Share past failures openly • Build psychological safety ✅ Invest in relationships • Meet everyone individually • Learn names + personal details ✅ Gather intelligence • Ask powerful questions • Listen more than talk ✅ Communicate constantly • Share insights and questions • Keep team in the transparency loop The biggest surprise in Week 1: You're leading from behind. • Be respectful. • Be curious. • Be you. And you'll be rewarded with trust and momentum in Week 2. PS - Even if you're not a new manager, most of this playbook can be used to reset with a struggling team. Fresh eyes = A fresh start. If this was helpful: ♻️ Please repost to help other leaders start strong ✅ Follow Dave Kline for more practical management insights.

All is not well in fully-remote OR fully in-office work. While new Gallup research reveals that fully remote workers are more engaged than even hybrid workers (and fully on-site workers are the least engaged - a slap in the face of RTO), they aren't thriving the most - hybrid workers are. It's perhaps no surprise (to all but some CEO's and managers) that fully on-site workers are thriving the least. Interestingly, hybrid workers experience the most stress (just a hair more than fully remote), and disturbingly, fully remote workers are more likely to experience anger, sadness, and loneliness - by a decent margin. Gallup believes that physical distance can create mental distance and that work becomes "just work" without deeper connections with coworkers that can be more easily formed from spending time together in person. They also think that it's the autonomy that comes with remote work which can create stress and lead to the negative emotions mentioned above. I think these are very interesting findings, and I would like to believe that most companies would take the time to reflect on them and take appropriate action. Here's what I think companies can do: 1. Address the emotional well-being of remote workers with regular check-ins, mental health resources, and virtual social activities to combat isolation. 2. Optimize hybrid work environments by creating create clear boundaries between work and home life, help their workers manage workloads effectively, and ensure hybrid workers aren't overcompensating with longer hours. 3. Explore the advantages of remote work, seek to understand what drives the higher engagement and apply these lessons across all work arrangements. 4. Given that each work arrangement faces different challenges, develop tailored well-being strategies for each work type. A one-size-fits-all approach isn't the way to go. 5. Ensure that remote workers have career development opportunities, opportunities to develop meaningful social connections, and achieve work-life balance to close the thriving gap. 6. For companies that are (or are considering moving to) fully in-office work, reconsider hybrid and/or remote work for the clear benefits. I know - wishful thinking, especially for #6. Here's the full Gallup report: https://lnkd.in/ezQB4K5q #WellBeing #EmployeeEngagement #WorkLifeBalance #FutureOfWork #RTO

I met one of my General Electric (GE) staff from years ago over dinner. He remembered vividly his first day at work. The pressure of working in Jack Welch’s GE was a burdensome weight. He asked what were my expectations of him. Apparently, I said something like “Do all the great stuff you did at Motorola. Everyone in GE wants to know what you know about 6 Sigma. You don’t just know it, you lived it. You are our guru.” These words washed away his insecurities because he was reminded of his experience, his value and my confidence in him. In Pygmalion in Management, J. Sterling Livingston wrote, “Some managers always treat their subordinates in a way that leads to superior performance. But most … unintentionally treat their subordinates in a way that leads to lower performance than they are capable of achieving. The way managers treat their subordinates is subtly influenced by what they expect of them. If manager’s expectations are high, productivity is likely to be excellent. If their expectations are low, productivity is likely to be poor. It is as though there were a law that caused subordinates’ performance to rise or fall to meet managers’ expectations.” So employees’ confidence in their abilities can be influenced by the expectations of their managers. And even if those expectations are biased and absent of objective assessment they still have the power to affect employees and determine what happens. Why? Because when their managers genuinely believe in their abilities, employees avoid the pitfalls of low expectations and are motivated to give their best. Granted we can’t do everything just because someone expects us to. When managers set the bar too high, employees can be discouraged and some may not even try. Stretch goals and high expectations are beneficial up to the point of diminishing returns. Research by McClelland and Atkinson indicates that the Pygmalion effect drops off if one sees the chance of success as being less than 50%. However, when employees believe their performance can match their managers’ expectations they will achieve more. This belief in themselves is stimulated by their manager’s words, and by their positive body language, appreciation, empowerment and feedback. When managers believe their people can deliver, and the goals are challenging but achievable, people will strive to prove them right! I accept this completely because I had a manager, Steve Kerr, who believed in me. He was the world’s first Chief Learning Officer, a title bestowed on him by Jack Welch, GE’s CEO and Chairman. I was so grateful to Steve that I decided to honour him by doing to others what he did to me. That was more than 25 years ago. I am still doing it.  

If you’re spending all your energy on your underperformers, you’re doing it wrong. High performers tend to get the least support. Which might not feel like a particularly alarming observation at a glance. After all, high performers are, well… high performing. They volunteer for projects. They go the extra mile. They get things done, and they get them done well. What support do they really need when they’re already doing such a great job? So instead of investing further in our high performers, we trust them to keep chugging along and divert all our time and energy to our underperformers. Except that eventually, the cracks start to show. Because the more work higher performers take on, the more we praise them. The more they shield us from any challenges they’re facing, the more we perceive them as being self-sufficient. The more projects they execute with minimal issues, the less attention we pay to opportunities for improvement. And eventually, high performers start to get the wrong message. Eventually, high performers start to define high performance as: - Always saying ‘yes’ to every project, no matter what - Never acknowledging any challenges you’re experiencing - Spending as much time as it takes trying to figure everything out for yourself so that you never have to use up anyone else’s time And then one day we look up and ask ourselves in complete shock why our highest performing employees are all burnt out, disengaged, and starting to let things slip. Like it or not, high performers are just like anyone else: Without helpful coaching and support, they too can go off track. They can overlook critical skills like prioritization, efficiency, and leveraging emotions as data in favor of coming across as superhuman Energizer Bunnies who never complain or ask for help. Which means that managers who don’t want to lose their highest performers to burnout need to make sure they don’t forget to, well… manage them. One easy way to do this? Incorporate introspective pulse check questions in your 1:1s. Here are some of my favorites: - Which of your current projects is yielding the lowest ROI? What would happen if we deprioritized it? - What’s eating up the most of your time, and what would it take to cut that time by 10%? - In a typical month, how often do you hit a 4 or 5 on the stress scale (out of 5)? What would it take to get that number down? - Which projects energize you? Which ones drain you? - What are the top 3 challenges on your plate right now? The more you ask these questions, the more skilled your high performers will become at thinking strategically about long-term sustainability, prioritization, optimizing for efficiency (not perfection), and knowing when to ask for help — not just saying ‘yes’ to every project that gets thrown their way. 👉 Want more questions that can help? Check out my full list here: https://lnkd.in/ezEFPdBy #hr #hrbp #performanceculture

7 Reasons Micromanagement Isn’t Leadership: (and what real leaders do instead) Micromanagement isn’t attention to detail. It’s a lack of trust in action. And it’s destroying morale one team at a time. Here’s why micromanagement fails—and what to do instead: 1. 𝗜𝘁 𝗘𝗿𝗼𝗱𝗲𝘀 𝗧𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘁 → Constant oversight signals you don’t believe in your team. → People stop taking initiative when they feel scrutinized. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗙𝗶𝘅: Give autonomy and judge by outcomes, not inputs. 2. 𝗞𝗶𝗹𝗹𝘀 𝗖𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗶𝘁𝘆 → Micromanaged employees don’t experiment—they execute. → Innovation suffers when there’s no room for risk. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗙𝗶𝘅: Create psychological safety and reward curiosity. 3. 𝗦𝗹𝗼𝘄𝘀 𝗗𝗲𝗰𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗠𝗮𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 → Every task needs approval. Every choice gets delayed. → Teams become reactive, not proactive. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗙𝗶𝘅: Empower your team to make decisions within clear guardrails. 4. 𝗕𝘂𝗿𝗻𝘀 𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗢𝘂𝘁 → The manager becomes the bottleneck. → The team feels anxious and disengaged. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗙𝗶𝘅: Trust your team, delegate meaningfully, and focus on coaching—not controlling. 5. 𝗗𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝗧𝗼𝗽 𝗣𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗔𝘄𝗮𝘆 → High performers want freedom to operate. → They’ll leave if they feel stifled. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗙𝗶𝘅: Hire well, then get out of their way. 6. 𝗦𝗲𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗪𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝗠𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗮𝗴𝗲 → It says: “I don’t think you can do this without me.” → Confidence and morale take a hit. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗙𝗶𝘅: Use language that builds belief, not fear. 7. 𝗖𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀 𝗗𝗲𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲, 𝗡𝗼𝘁 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀 → Micromanagement breeds dependence, not development. → It trains people to wait, not lead. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗙𝗶𝘅: Coach your team to grow their own confidence and skills. Micromanagement is rooted in fear. Leadership is built on trust. Choose wisely. What else would you add? Let me know in the comments below 👇 --- ♻️ Find this helpful? Repost for your network. ➕ Follow Dr Alexander Young for daily insights on productivity, leadership, and AI.

Your best people are walking away, and it’s not for more money. Many organizations do not have a turnover problem. They have a leadership problem that turnover is exposing. Over the last several months, I’ve conducted honest exit interviews. Not the performative version designed to protect the organization. Real conversations with high performers who left jobs they once wanted to stay in. The theme I kept hearing was this: Organizations are losing the very people who were trying to help fix what was broken. They raised concerns. They carried more than their share. They tried to stay. They tried to fix it before they finally chose themselves. One person helped close a project worth nearly half a billion dollars, then was excluded from key meetings and offered a small raise. After resigning, the company tried to promote them. Too little. Too late. Another spent 12 years helping build a consulting firm, was promised partnership, denied it, and then pushed out. This is not just frustrating. It is expensive and avoidable. Because when top performers leave, organizations do not just lose talent. They lose trust, institutional knowledge, internal credibility, and people who were holding more together than anyone realized. Many organizations question employee loyalty. Yet the people walking away are often the ones who cared enough to raise concerns, offer solutions, and stay longer than they should have. This is not just a retention issue. It is a leadership and culture issue. And in some cases, it is also a risk issue. One person left after years of documented bullying that leadership knew about. Another left after their intellectual property was taken by a partner. These are not isolated interpersonal problems. They are organizational failures with legal, reputational, and human consequences. One person also shared that a colleague died of a heart attack connected to chronic workplace stress. He is gone. The conditions that harmed him were not. That should make us pause. So why does this keep getting missed? Because many exit interview processes are not designed for truth. They are designed for optics. People say what feels safe on the way out. They protect themselves. And yet I hear some version of this again and again: “I would have stayed if someone had listened sooner.” That is not just about turnover. It is about what leaders normalize, what cultures reward, and what organizations wait too long to take seriously. Is this something you're currently dealing with or planning to address this year? I'm here to partner with you to increase the emotional intelligence skills great leaders need to retain great people. Go ahead and send me a DM. #PaidSpeakerVisibilitySprint #leadership Ekua Cant.

Quiet quitting isn’t the problem. Disengagement is. Let’s stop sugarcoating it: If your people are quietly quitting, the issue isn’t them. It’s you. The workforce has changed. Expectations have shifted. And employees are no longer willing to settle for transactional work environments. Gallup says only 23% of employees worldwide feel engaged at work. The rest? They’re showing up, doing the bare minimum, and mentally checking out. Call it quiet quitting or whatever buzzword you like. The bottom line is clear: If your people aren’t connected to the work, they’ll walk. And no, it’s not about fancy perks or ping-pong tables anymore. It’s about making work meaningful. Here’s how HR leaders can retain top talent in this new reality: 1️⃣ Trust people to be adults. Spotify nailed this with its “Work From Anywhere” policy. They told the world: “Our employees are adults. They can work where they do their work.” The result? Higher retention. Happier employees. Rigid policies are dead. Trust your people or lose them. 2️⃣ Make work meaningful. Today’s workforce wants purpose, not just a paycheck. Companies like Patagonia have nailed this. Their employees aren’t just working for a company. They’re working for a mission they believe in. And the results are telling: While the average turnover rate in the U.S. is 57%, Patagonia’s is just 4%. If your people see meaning in their work, they’ll stay. 3️⃣ Groom managers to be human. People don’t leave jobs. They leave bad managers. + Bad managers drive out talent. + Empathetic managers retain it. Teach your managers to listen and connect. Because empathy is no longer optional. Quiet quitting isn’t about laziness. It’s about disconnection. The only solution is to: Trust more. Care more. Connect more. Because retention doesn’t come from policies, it comes from relationships. #quietquitting #HRleadership #retention

The "war for talent" continues, but many companies are stuck using the same hiring and retention strategies they've relied on for decades. These methods might keep employees a bit longer, but they still leave. Why? Because it's not just about perks or compensation—it's about the experience. A recent, thought-provoking Harvard Business Review article by Ethan Bernstein, Michael Horn and Bob Moesta suggests that employees crave meaningful work, to feel valued, trusted, and have room to grow. After studying job switchers for 15 years, they identified four key reasons for why employees leave: 1. Get out: They're in a toxic environment or feel stuck in a role that doesn’t align with their strengths. 2. Regain control: They need more flexibility or predictability in their work-life balance. 3. Regain alignment: They’re seeking a job where their skills and talents are fully utilized and appreciated. 4. Take the next step: They’re ready for growth and new responsibilities after reaching a milestone. So what can leaders do to create the experiences people actually need? Here are three specific strategies the article suggests: (a) Interview people early: Don't wait until employees are leaving. Have regular, meaningful conversations about their career goals and motivations. (b) Develop “shadow” job descriptions: Go beyond vague or outdated job descriptions—focus on the real day-to-day tasks and experiences that make the role fulfilling. (c) Collaborate with HR: Work with HR to design roles that align both the organization's needs and the employee's personal growth goals. By addressing these deeper factors, companies can reduce costly turnover and build workplaces where people thrive and want to stay. How is your organization aligning employee experience with retention strategies? #leadership #talentdevelopment #employeeexperience #retention #growth #workplaceculture https://lnkd.in/dJzU2aTm

Dear Business Leaders, The recent tragic death of a 26-year-old employee in Pune highlights a systemic issue that demands our attention. It compels us to consider our role as leaders in preventing such avoidable outcomes. We must urgently address two critical issues: 1. Exploitation of Young Employees - Across industries, young employees are overworked under the guise of "training" or "preparation for the real world." Although hard work is essential, extreme hours should not become standard. The World Health Organization links long working hours to a 35% increased risk of stroke and a 17% higher risk of heart disease. This prevalent pattern sees young professionals working tirelessly for weeks or months without a break, fostering a toxic culture where exhaustion is celebrated and well-being is ignored. Immediate action is required. We must audit work environments to identify and rectify these harmful practices. When long hours are necessary, companies must provide support such as rest areas, meals, mental health resources, and mandatory time off. A 2019 Gallup study shows that burnout not only diminishes employee well-being but also reduces productivity by 63%. We must prioritize long-term sustainability over short-term gains. 2. The Role of HR in Employee Well-Being - HR is pivotal to an organization’s culture. Yet often, HR departments are either unaware or unresponsive to burnout signs. A study by the American Psychological Association indicates that 75% of employees experience significant workplace stress, with nearly half requiring help managing it. HR must be empowered to intervene early when employee well-being is at risk. Why This Matters for Business Leaders? Gallup reports that 85% of employees globally are disengaged at work. These figures reflect a deep-seated issue in organizational treatment of personnel. If we fail to address these issues, we contribute to declining performance and perpetuate a harmful system. The future of any successful company hinges on its treatment of people. We need to start asking ourselves: Are we willing to measure success not just by financial performance but by the health and happiness of the employees driving that performance? The data is clear: when employee well-being improves, so does organizational success. If we don’t act now, when will we? Sad yet hopeful, Vineet