Dive Brief:

• Only four out of ten employees believe their manager is helping them develop the skills they need to perform their work, according to new Gartner findings; fewer still believe they’re being readied for the future.
• In a survey of more than 7,000 employees in 25 industries, Gartner identified the best manager approaches to development. Four major managerial styles were discussed: "connector managers;" "teacher managers;" "always-on managers" and "cheerleader managers." The data suggests connector managers’ employees are three times more likely to be top performers.
• The connector manager, according to Gartner, gives coaching and feedback where needed; focuses on skills, interests and needs; and understands that some learning is better served self-taught. They also create an environment of transparency where skill sharing among the group is valued and reliance on the manager for every type of learning is not needed.

Dive Insight:

Today’s multi-generational workforce has presented learning and development professionals with new challenges, but one thing is for sure: everyone can benefit from training and upskilling for the future, regardless of how such benefits are provided. Whether businesses are creating branded learning opportunities or arming staff with ever-growing LMS content, the key is continuous learning. But L&D pros have their work cut out for them: one-third of U.S. workers say they participated in no training to improve their skills in the past year.

Training employees to perform well today, as well as for jobs that might not even exist yet, often falls to the manager. But many managers feel they themselves lack training. Almost half, 44%, report feeling overwhelmed at work and are looking for guidance. And it's not just a private-sector problem; a recent survey revealed a gap in training between the federal government's new managers and those already in place.

To meet the requirements of their own roles and assist staff, managers reportedly want more training, which can include information about management styles that may best suit their teams' needs. Such training can come in many forms — some predict that the leaders may soon coached by AI — but, at the very least, needs to be monitored for return on investment.