9/16/2014 The Value of Front Line Managers | Ideas for Leaders http://www.ideasforleaders.com/ideas/the-value-of-front-line-managers 1/3 SEARCH tel. +44 (0)203 031 2900 CHALLENGE US PINNED ACCOUNT LOG OUT HOME ABOUT IDEAS LIBRARY IDEAS BY INSTITUTIONS Home Ideas Library The Value of Front Line Managers 10.13007/133 Ideas for Leaders #133 The Value of Front Line Managers Key Concept Front-line bosses may be far more valuable for an organization than has been previously thought. According to research from Stanford Graduate School of Business, good as opposed to poor line-managers and supervisors can increase organizational productivity by as much as 11% — or the same amount as adding an additional worker to a nine- member team! Idea Summary CEOs are often put under the spotlight, with everything from how they spend their time to their leadership style closely scrutinized. But what about managers and supervisors lower down in organization hierarchies? These are the people that most employees directly work with, yet their ‘value’ is less discussed, which is surprising considering more often than not, supervisors are the ones that hire, fire, instruct and reward workers. How much of an overall impact do these bosses have on an organization? More specifically, how much does it matter if a line manager is a good one or a bad one? New research based on the study of a large company has revealed that a very good front-line boss can increases the output of his/her supervised team by up to 11% more than a bad one. As for what makes a boss a good one, the researchers single out that the ability to teach is necessary to fall under this category; employees that have been taught better work methods by their bosses are the ones that demonstrate improved productivity, which is something that lasts even when their boss changes. Focusing on strengths is important, so assigning the best workers to the best bosses was found to be the most efficient way of structuring an organization, rather than assigning the best bosses to the weakest workers. Finally, replacing a boss who is in the lower 10% of boss quality with one who is in the upper 10% increases a team’s total output by approximately the Share Authors Lazear, Edward P. Shaw, Kathryn L. Stanton, Christopher Institutions Stanford Graduate School of Business University of Utah David Eccles School of Business Source Stanford Graduate School of Business Working Paper Idea conceived 2014 Idea posted April 2013 DOI number Subject Senior Leaders Interpersonal Skills Leadership Organizational Effectiveness Performance Management