Redefining the Middle Manager Role

A bank redefined the [middle manager] role. They knew the role had become unwieldy, and as they looked into it they found that just by having a direct report, every people manager had 105 tasks to do. Some of these tasks made sense for a manager: performance reviews and coaching. But there were other things, like simple approvals of credit cards or expense reports, that could have been automated. So they looked at what they could automate, eliminate, or make self-serve. In the end, there were very few things that required manager action. This freed managers up from administrivia, allowing them to focus on the value they do add: coaching, motivating their people, delivering on the strategy.

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