Front-line supervisors make up a significant portion of the US workforce; ~9.7 million supervising office and administrative support workers, production and operating workers, and retail sales workers in the United States and make up approximately 4% of the total US workforce (Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2020).
According to an article in the Harvard Business Review, font-line managers can make up roughly 60% of a company’s management ranks and play a critical role in the success of organizations. The Conference Board found that front-line supervisors significantly impact employee engagement, productivity, and retention. Further, in a 2019 study by the Center for Creative Leadership (CCL), front-line supervisors in the United States typically manage between 10 and 20 employees depending on the industry, with front-line supervisors in industries such as retail and hospitality often managing larger teams than those in other industries. The same CCL study also found that front-line supervisors are the most stressed and least supported group of leaders inside organizations, receiving little to no training or development support. The study found that front-line supervisors were often promoted into their roles based on their technical skills rather than leadership skills, resulting in many front-line supervisors receiving little to no training or development in their roles and struggling with transitioning from individual contributor to leader.
This lack of support is not logical and makes even less sense when you see the sheer resources spent by organizations. PayScale estimates the annual salary of front-line supervisors at ~$63K per year. Back-of-the-envelope math would suggest that the average yearly spend on front-line supervisors is a whopping $611B (9.7 million multiplied by $63K)
There are varying statistics on the underperformance/failure rates of first-time supervisors. However, some studies suggest this failure rate is significant, with estimates ranging from 30% to 60%. Even if we use the lower end of that estimate, i.e., a 30% failure rate, the opportunity for re-directing ~$183B for better outcomes via increased development and support inside organizations.
Front-line supervisors manage many employees and deal with conflict resolution, performance management, and training and development. This is a significant challenge for many front-line supervisors, especially those new to their roles, and providing the necessary support and resources is no longer a luxury. It is imperative that the leadership development fraternity steps up, takes accountability, and own this support gap. If we do not include front-line supervisors in the Leadership Development efforts, then every rock of the boat will tip the organization over.
There is not a single, more important action for an organization than the tending of its entire Leadership Bench! Their ‘guidance and development’ should be based on evidence-based continuous feedback loops that can deliver prescriptive leadership interventions and be tied to business outcomes.
Time to combine deep leadership development expertise with robust analytics to create pathways where organizations can tie their leadership development intervention initiatives to top-line and bottom-line business outcomes.
Time for Modern Leadership!