The Workplace Wellness Collective: Workplace Leadership Hour Episode 8
There has recently been a lot of movement in companies’ leadership structure with the growth of remote positions, accessibility in communication, and costs for business operations. This puts a spotlight for larger corporations on those employees known as ‘middle managers,’ and the variable demands of their position. This week Co-hosts Felipe Cofiño and Michele Thomson went live on Linkedin to unpack the middle manager’s unique role in workplace wellness (and organizational functionality). Sumana Jeddy took this week to provide her science from behind the scenes, and in this blog!
Founder and CEO, Jeddy Wellness
I was a middle manager. Middle managers in healthcare, especially in complex areas like infectious diseases, serve as essential conduits between frontline professionals and senior leadership. Their ability to bridge communication, mediate competing priorities, and implement strategic change is invaluable for advancing patient safety and improving public health outcomes across the system.
Sumana’s Science:
Middle Managers in Healthcare
In healthcare organizations, middle managers are positioned within hierarchical structures, often segmented by professional groups such as doctors, nurses, and allied health professionals. These managers are described as having a “semi-autonomous” role, where they must balance the interests of both senior management and frontline staff, as well as the demands of patient care. Although they are often specialized in their professional areas, their role also involves implementing strategic activities and fostering organizational change, despite various constraints.
Middle managers play a critical role in translating senior leadership’s strategic vision into actionable steps within their teams and clinical micro-systems, contributing to patient safety and the overall improvement of care systems. They are considered essential for sustaining large-scale change initiatives and improving organizational outcomes through a blend of systemic and incremental changes. However, their effectiveness can be limited by the unique challenges they face in navigating professional obligations and organizational expectations, a dynamic sometimes referred to as being “stuck in the middle.”
Five Main Purposes of Middle Managers
- Strategic: Action-oriented leadership to reach performance outcomes
- Administrative: Allocating resources, delegating tasks, ensuring organizational/operational components are completed
- Leadership: Understanding who each employee is and what they need to be successful
- Decision-Making: Making decisions based on the scope of the whole operation, from the top to the bottom
- Communication: They relay and filter information to and from employees
Challenges of Middle Managers
- Balancing Competing Interests: They must navigate the priorities of various professional groups while aligning with senior leadership’s strategic goals, placing them in a “stuck in the middle” position.
- Navigating Social Capital: Their influence depends on their relationships and networks within the organization, which affects their capacity to drive change and build support.
- Role Ambiguity: Defining middle management roles is challenging due to blurred boundaries in organizational hierarchies, often leaving middle managers unclear about their exact responsibilities.
Reference: Rezvani, Z. (2017). Who is a middle manager: A literature review. Extremes, 1(1), 44.
Reference: Gutberg, J., & Berta, W. (2017). “Understanding middle managers’ influence in implementing patient safety culture.” BMC Health Services Research, 17(1), 582
Leadership and Workplace Culture Specialist
Middle managers are instrumental in mentoring and developing the next set of leaders, and their example sets the tone for the future generation.
Michele’s Strategies:
Wellness Advocates – They know their team members individually, which allows them to notice and respond to subtle shifts in morale or productivity.
Impact – This plays a critical role in identifying signs of burnout, fatigue, and disengagement before they become crises.
Create Connection – They keep teams engaged by recognizing individual contributions, celebrating wins, and offering ongoing feedback.
Impact – This level of personalized encouragement has a big impact on morale and job satisfaction.
Meaningful Communication – They also facilitate two-way communication, breaking down the Senior Executive Team (SET) goals and expectations and sharing employee feedback.
Impact – They develop a framework that shapes results into actionable tasks and sets realistic performance expectations for individuals.
Consistency & Continuity – They help ensure that everyone understands the company’s mission and values and knows how their work supports those goals.
Impact – They provide the consistency needed for individuals to feel safe and supported in their roles and confident in their direction, aligned with the company’s goals.
Ready to Transform Your Leadership Approach?
In “The Great Unbossing,” traditional management transforms from rigid hierarchies to a more decentralized, collaborative approach that prioritizes employee autonomy and shared leadership. Middle managers play a crucial role in sustaining employee wellness by bridging leadership vision with frontline needs; in their absence, organizations often see decreased morale and support due to weakened communication channels. To maintain employee engagement during this transition, organizations can implement strategies like transparent communication, frequent check-ins, and continuous support for professional growth, ensuring employees feel valued and connected as roles and structures shift.
Reflect on Your Leadership Style:
If you are a middle manager, how are you influencing your leadership style?
In what ways can you enhance your skills to become a more effective middle manager and better support your team?
How can you raise awareness among your colleagues about the crucial role middle managers play in promoting workplace wellness and driving organizational change.
Join Our Final Episode: We are excited to announce that our last episode of the season will take place on November 27, 2024, at 10 AM MST / 12 PM EST. Stay tuned for topic information on Linkedin.
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Call to Action: Whether you are a company executive or a middle manager yourself- familiarize yourself with the roles of the middle manager(s) within your workplace. Think about how you can lean on them (or each other), understand all the hats that are worn daily, and how their unique role can strengthen the workplace and its culture of wellness.
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Written by Hannah Nease. Reviewed by Sumana Jeddy
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