The role of managers has changed drastically in recent decades as a result of extensive reshaping, digitization, and innovative projects, as well as the recent shift to remote work. Power, talents, and structure have all played a role in the evolution of change. Managers must now consider how to help their teams succeed rather than how to be served by them. Moreover, managers have now been tasked with taking on extra tasks and demonstrating new competencies as a result of these changes.

Ironically, we now require strong people leaders more than ever. Employees feel connected and more optimistic about their job when managers help them focus, foster their culture, and encourage work/life balance. Meanwhile, according to McKinsey, solid connections with managers are the most important indicator of employees’ job happiness, which is the second-most crucial component of their overall well-being.

Bad managers, on the other hand, can wreak havoc on employee retention and engagement. The most unpleasant aspect of their careers, according to 75% of respondents in a McKinsey survey, was their immediate boss. People join firms and leave their managers, as the saying goes. Something is obviously wrong. If managers are still necessary, but their old job has become obsolete, it’s clear that something needs to change.

Some companies have taken conscious steps to reinvent a manager’s position. Most businesses regard their top executives as the agents of change and are willing to invest millions in their growth as a result. The managerial layers under the top, however, are set in their ways and may likely oppose change.

Digitization has democratized access to information and people, but it has also weakened conventional administrative systems of power. Managers become people leaders as a result of their recognition of the importance of the human connection in their work. 

Managers who do not show signs of growth and repeatedly underperform get demoted from their roles. The message to the company’s executives is simple: Times have changed, and you must evolve with them. Your continuous service as a manager is inextricably linked to your employees’ continued growth and engagement.

While rethinking managerial positions, all employees will be expected to learn new skills as well as new ways of working. The organization would have to create a culture that prioritizes innovation and speed, as well as urge managers to lead retraining initiatives, adjust their style of management to agile work practices, and include all employees in the process. This means three things – digitally altering a managers’ tasks, providing them with new abilities, and keeping them accountable through performance indicators.