For a middle manager of long tenure in a typical organization, waiting for things
to revert to “normal” has often been a wise strategy.
Additionally, some middle managers lack motivation. It’s difficult to throw
passion and energy into reinventing an organization if you’ll be retired by the time
the transformation is complete.
It’s not them, it’s you
But what if the middle managers really are like the David Brents/Michael Scotts of
this world? Just a few frozen middle managers can set an organization on the road to
failure, gradually and silently blocking progress like cholesterol in an artery until, one
day, the blood flow stops. If an organization is not working as it should, ultimately
the responsibility lies with its leadership. If a transformation effort stalls or fails,
the problem may be that senior management has sabotaged middle management’s
ability to implement the strategy, either by promoting the wrong people into the
roles or not supporting the ones who can deliver change in the right way.
A research study by Cansu Oral of St. Gallen University in Switzerland on
the role that middle managers play in change programs used the example of
Bayer CropScience (BCS) and its transformation strategy to show that even when
an organization recognizes the importance of middle management in driving a
successful transformation, leadership failings can get in the way. In 2011, BCS,
the second-largest global player in the US$65 billion agricultural science market,
formulated a new strategy to address flatlining growth in a challenging market.
The goal was “reinventing customer centricity along the entire value chain.”
Its implementation plan included the selection and specialized training of 100
middle managers who would act as change agents.
Although BCS’s transformation was a success — annual revenue grew 43
percent over the three years following the new strategy — the challenges that
middle managers reported all fell within the remit of senior management: They
perceived a lack of leadership from the top, unrealistic time lines, and a lack of
resources and change management skills in their teams. One manager complained
of being “inundated” with templates and processes from the head office that
didn’t add value at the local level, while another lamented that he “would love to
see more...[of ] senior management that really walks the talk.”
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