What works for developing positive manager behaviour in organisations Emma Donaldson-Feilder and Rachel Lewis Affinity Health at Work

Engagement + Health & Wellbeing = Sustainability High productivity but high burnout and more likely to leave Most productive and happy employees Least contribution from employees More likely to stay but less committed to organisational goals Engagement Wellbeing (Fairhurst & O’Connor, 2010)

Transactional vs. Emotional Engagement Emotional Engagement -Increased wellbeing -Decreased work-family conflict and burnout -Increased work-family conflict and burnout Enjoy work, identify with values – intrinsic motivation Interested in reward, fear of losing job – extrinsic motivation Emotional Engagement Transactional Engagement High work demands and pressure (Gourlay et al., 2012)

Managers’ role in sustainable engagement, health and wellbeing Managers have: Direct impact: their behaviour is potential source of stress and disengagement or wellbeing and engagement for their team ‘Gate-keeper’ role: influence their team’s exposure to sources of stress and disengagement or wellbeing and engagement Managers are vital for identifying and tackling problems… …and for supporting organisational interventions

Managing for sustainable engagement health and wellbeing research programme Management competencies for preventing and reducing stress (HSE/CIPD, ) Management competencies for engendering employee engagement (CIPD, 2011) Managing for sustainable employee engagement (CIPD, 2012) Validation of the framework

Managing for sustainable employee engagement CompetencyBrief Description Open, fair and consistent Managing with integrity and consistency, managing emotions/personal issues and taking a positive approach in interpersonal interactions Handling conflict and problems Dealing with employee conflicts (including bullying and abuse) and using appropriate organisational resources Knowledge, clarity and guidance Clear communication, advice and guidance, demonstrates understanding of roles and responsible decision making Building and sustaining relationships Personal interaction with employees involving empathy and consideration Supporting developmentSupporting and arranging employee career progression and development

Implications for managers Manager behaviour is vital for sustainable employee engagement Need to engage and prevent stress Use the managing for sustainable employee engagement framework to: Identify which behaviours are already part of management repertoire and which aren’t Change behaviour where appropriate

Implications for employers 1 Employee engagement is unlikely to be sustainable unless hand-in-hand with wellbeing Beware of fostering the ‘wrong’ kind of engagement Manager behaviour is pivotal to engagement and wellbeing Support managers to engender sustainable employee engagement…

Implications for employers 2 …using the ‘managing for sustainable employee engagement’ framework to support managers through: Learning and development – perhaps including upward feedback Performance management and appraisal Selection assessment and promotion

Focus of current research Developing managers to manage sustainable employee engagement, health and wellbeing Explore how best to support managers to change their behaviour Establish the context that supports managers to manage for sustainable engagement, health and wellbeing Through an evidence-based approach

Developing managers to manage sustainable employee engagement, health and wellbeing: a process over time STAGE 1: PRE Considering conducting an intervention STAGE 2: DURING Designing and implementing a intervention STAGE 3: AFTER Embedding learning after the intervention OUTCOMES: Increased employee engagement, health and wellbeing Considerations 1. Method 1. Manager 1. Organisation Considerations 2. Method 2. Manager 2. Organisation Considerations 3. Method 3. Manager 3. Organisation

Checklists for organisations/practitioners ConsiderationsStage 1: PREStage 2: DURINGStage 3: AFTER Method Does the programme… xxx Does the programme… xxx Xxx xxx Does the programme… xxx Manager Have you considered… xxx Have you considered… xxx Have you considered… xxx Organisation Does the organisation… xxx Does the organisation… xxx Does the organisation… xxx

Barriers to leadership Ksenia Zheltoukhova CIPD

Systems approach to leadership Wider economic and social context Organisational strategy Work organisation Manager capability

Is the organisational system aligned to the task of leaders and managers? 28% of managers (33% in large organisations) have to put the interests of the organisation (for example, achieving an objective) above the interests of the team every day or often One in five managers and one in four junior managers say they don’t have time for one-to-one people management Although 60% of managers are evaluated on people management skills, more than a third of those said those skills are not as important as performance management

The research 7 organisations (private, public, third sector) 200+ interviews and focus groups Managers along the organisational hierarchy

Manager capability Hierarchy, bureaucracy Short-term, bottom-line focus ‘Us’ and ‘them’ mentality Individualism Organisational context External environment

Any questions?

For more information A guidance leaflet based on the 'managing for sustainable employee engagement' research can be downloaded at: framework-guidance.aspx framework-guidance.aspx The 'managing for sustainable employee engagement' research report can be downloaded at: reports/engagement-behavioural-framework.aspx. reports/engagement-behavioural-framework.aspx If you wish to be notified when the new checklists for 'developing managers to manage sustainable employee engagement' are published, ask to be added to the Affinity Health at Work mailing list,

Thank you!