Supervisors Elevated for Front-line Success Show Lower Engagement

According to Gallup, supervisors promoted based on front-line performance or tenure are less engaged (31%) than those selected for supervisory skills or for prior supervisory experience, or who already were supervisors (42%).

This gap in engagement between front-line supervisors, who reached the role through individual front-line performance and those who did so based on supervisory skills or experience, can have a significant impact on their teams.

Research shows that supervisor engagement directly influences their teams. Gallup’s meta-analysis, as reported in Culture Shock, found that managers’ engagement, effectiveness, and natural talents explained at least 70% of the variance in team engagement, even after accounting for other factors. Managers in the top quartile of engagement have teams with engagement levels averaging 11 percentile points higher than those led by managers at the 50th percentile. Additionally, U.S. front-line workers have lower engagement than the overall U.S. workforce (26% vs. 32%).

Gallup said organizations should hire and promote based on supervisory talent rather than front-line performance or tenure alone. Structured, science-based interviews and assessments help identify candidates with supervisory potential, the research firm said. In turn, a meta-analysis of 136 studies involving 14,597 managers found that hiring for managerial talent increased sales or revenue by 21% per manager and profit by 32% per manager.

Supervisory training programs also help prepare supervisors for success. However, only 45% of front-line supervisors participated in training or education in the past year, 32% did so more than a year ago, and 23% have never participated.

Still, front-line supervisors who completed supervisor-focused training in the past year report better outcomes. They are 79% more likely to be engaged, 19% less likely to feel burned out at work very often or always, and 11% less likely to be actively looking or watching for a new job, Gallup found.