Why your managers aren’t managing

Most owners I work with have managers. Far fewer have managers who are actually managing.

The title is there. The team structure is drawn. But decisions, problems and difficult conversations still find their way to the owner’s desk. And in most cases, that isn’t the managers’ fault.

The signs

The first sign is that everything still lands on the owner. Managers bring problems upwards rather than making decisions, and spend most of their time doing the work themselves rather than organising and supporting their teams.

You also see the same issues coming up again and again:

• Expectations aren’t clear.
• Poor performance goes unchallenged.
• Actions agreed in meetings don’t get followed through.

People have responsibility in name, but the owner still carries it in practice.

What it looks like in practice

One business I worked with had given people manager titles without ever showing them how to manage. They didn’t understand what the role involved, including the difference between managing and leading, and why they needed to do both.

Day to day, they still went to the owner for decisions. They brought problems rather than working through solutions. They had no visibility of the financials, so they couldn’t see how their decisions affected the performance of the business.

To be fair to them, this was more about what the owner had put in place than any failing on their part. They’d been given the title without the training, the information or the clear expectations they needed to do the job.

Why it happens

Often, someone was good at their job, so they were promoted and expected to know how to manage. Nobody explained what the new role involved, showed them how to handle difficult conversations, or made room in their workload for managing people. So they carried on doing what they knew, with a new title on top.

The owner can be part of the problem too. If you keep stepping in, overturning decisions or letting staff bypass their manager and come straight to you, you undermine the very person you’re expecting to take responsibility. Every time it happens, the team learns that the real decision still sits with you.

The mistake owners make trying to fix it

The most common mistake is treating it as entirely the manager’s problem.

Sending someone on a course might help. But it won’t fix unclear responsibilities, a workload with no room for managing, or an owner who won’t let go. They come back with new ideas into exactly the same situation.

Hiring a more senior person over the top has the same limitation. Before you add another layer, establish three things about the managers you already have:

• What they’re expected to deliver.
• Whether they have the authority and the time to do it.
• What support they need.

If those aren’t clear, a new senior hire inherits the same problem, and often becomes one more person bringing questions to you.

What good looks like

A manager who is genuinely managing knows what their team needs to achieve that week, allocates the work and checks progress. They make time for regular conversations with their people, deal with issues early and follow through on what they’ve committed to.

They make decisions within agreed boundaries, and they understand the numbers that matter in their area. When something does need your input, they bring it in a useful form:

The facts, the options, and what they recommend.

You shouldn’t have to chase every action, or sort out routine staffing and customer issues yourself. If you are, the role isn’t working yet.

Where to start this month

Sit down with each manager and agree what they own:

• The results they’re responsible for.
• The decisions they can make on their own.
• When they need to involve you.

Write it down in plain English. Not a job description in HR language, just a clear page you can both point to.

Then look honestly at what you need to stop doing so they can fulfil that role. That part is usually harder than the conversation itself.

Finally, agree a short weekly review. It gives you a regular point to support them and hold them accountable, without taking everything back. Where managers need help building the skills to go with the responsibility, that’s what Management Training is for.

Why it matters beyond the day to day

A business where the managers genuinely manage is easier to run, and it frees you to work on the business rather than in it. It also matters if you ever sell. A missing or weak leadership team is one of the things that most often knocks value off, as I set out in what buyers look for when they value an SME.

It takes more than a title

This is the view some advisers might disagree with. Managers are the backbone of most SMEs, but many got there because they were excellent operators. Doing the job well is what they know, and where they feel confident.

The difficult transition is moving from being the best at the job to getting the best out of the team. That means resisting the temptation to do everything themselves, and learning to delegate, develop people and hold them accountable.

You don’t instil that through a new title or a single conversation. It takes time, practice and consistent support from the owner. If your managers aren’t managing yet, the first question isn’t what’s wrong with them. It’s what you’ve given them to work with. And if you want help with that from your side of the desk, that’s what mentoring is for.