The Workplace Engagement Solution

9

Mid-Management: Engagement’s Final Frontier

In a Harvard Business School study, mid-level managers emerged as the most disengaged of all workers.¹ This is not a big surprise. Mid-managers are overworked, undervalued, and the most at-risk employees during lay-offs. Academics and business authors routinely suggest that we get rid of them as a first step to becoming more lean and improving organizational performance. It’s practically mindless at this point. It also protects the executive ranks from the impact of necessary downsizing.

Organizations have a history of adding more and more work to mid-managers. We frequently select many mid-managers ...