When Did Managing People Become a Side Job?
- Matt Williams
- Jul 23
- 2 min read
More than 90 per cent of employees (in the US) report to a middle manager. Yet McKinsey found that managers spend less than 25 per cent of their time actually managing people and nurturing talent.
The people with the greatest day-to-day influence on employee performance, engagement and retention are spending three quarters of their time doing something else.
The Corporate Dumping Ground
It is not because managers do not care. It is because organisations have turned middle management into a corporate dumping ground.
Meetings, reports, spreadsheets, approvals, emails, project work and firefighting fill their working days. Tasks that nobody else owns somehow land with the manager.
Then, when engagement falls or performance slips, we ask why managers are not coaching, developing and motivating their people.
When exactly are they supposed to do it?
Capability Is Not Enough
Organisations send managers on development programmes, teach them how to coach and delegate, then return them to overloaded diaries and cultures that reward individual delivery over people leadership.
That is not simply a capability problem. It is a capacity problem.
Managers need confidence, skills and practical tools. They also need the time, authority and permission to use them.
That’s Why I Created The Shift
The Shift is not another generic management programme. It helps managers move away from firefighting and towards leading performance through others.
Through six practical, business-focused workshops, managers develop the mindset, skillset and toolset to prioritise effectively, delegate confidently, hold better performance conversations, develop their people and translate strategy into everyday action.
Crucially, the learning is connected to real workplace challenges and measurable business outcomes.
Because management development should not be measured by what happens in the training room, but by what changes in the workplace.
Contact me today to learn how The Shift can give your managers the capability, confidence and practical support to stop firefighting and start leading.