Manager Development: Your Most Important L&D Investment

Organizations are demanding faster results, greater productivity and accelerated transformation. At the same time, employees need more support, more development, more connection and more purpose than ever. Caught in the middle? Managers.

We’re asking managers to drive results with smaller teams, lead people through constant change, create psychological safety in high-pressure environments, provide meaningful feedback, foster experimentation with AI tools and deliver on performance goals—often without the training, time or support to do any of it well. It’s no surprise that manager engagement sits at only 27%—a 10-year low.

If you’re an HR leader shaping your L&D plans for this year, this is the pressure point that deserves your attention.

The Expanding Manager Role

As I talk to L&D leaders and CHROs, the same themes keep emerging. In our recent webinar, I shared how important it is today for managers to create psychological safety as the business environment and definition of success continue to change.  Managers must also make everyday choices to delegate more meaningfully—not just to get tasks off their plate, but to genuinely grow their people. 

The convergence of these expectations complicate the role of managers, along with the push to constantly do more with less.

Research from The Josh Bersin Company frames this as the rise of the “supermanager”—a leader who is human-centered but supercharged by AI. The role of manager now includes fostering a culture of AI experimentation, empowering teams with autonomy to redesign work, leveraging technology for personalized development, democratizing opportunity and growth, and prioritizing trust and transparency.

All of this is a huge change from the traditional manager role—and many managers simply aren’t prepared. More than eight out of 10 managers enter management without formal training. These “accidental managers” were promoted based on organizational needs or excellence as individual contributors, not because they were ready to lead. Then, faced with the overwhelming demands of the role, they find themselves treading water with no time to catch up on their development.

Unsupported Managers Become a Bottleneck

When managers struggle, everything downstream suffers. Employee engagement drops. Development stalls. Retention becomes a problem. The very transformation initiatives that organizations are counting on get stuck because the people responsible for driving them through teams don’t have the capacity or capability to make them work.

According to the World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report, by 2030, 59 out of every 100 workers will need training—29 requiring in-role upskilling, 19 needing redeployment to new roles and 11 at risk of displacement. Managers are central to making that development happen. They’re the ones who create space for learning, provide coaching conversations and help people apply new skills in real work.

But only about half of HR teams believe they have the right skills to deliver this kind of impact. If the function that’s supposed to support managers is itself under-resourced, where does that leave managers?

What Managers Actually Need

To help managers meet these expanded expectations, we need to rethink how we support them. Based on current research and what I’m seeing work with our clients, three priorities stand out:

1. Development that fits into their reality. Managers don’t have time for multi-day workshops or lengthy courses. They need micro-learning they can engage with in short bursts—five minutes between meetings, 30 minutes during a commute. The learning has to be immediately applicable, not theoretical. With our New LensⓇ app, we’ve seen firsthand that this approach significantly increases completion rates and accelerates behavior change.

2. Multiple types of support. No single intervention is enough. Effective manager development combines individual learning with peer cohorts where managers can share challenges and solutions, plus coaching—whether that’s from their own leader, a professional coach or structured peer coaching. The combination creates reinforcement loops that help new behaviors stick.

3. A psychologically safe space to practice. Managers are being asked to foster psychological safety for their teams, but they need it, too. In fact, research published in Harvard Business Review found that middle managers feel less psychologically safe than both senior executives and their own team members. Newly promoted managers scored even lower. Managers need spaces to test new approaches, make mistakes and build confidence before deploying new skills in high-stakes situations. This is especially true as they learn to leverage AI tools alongside their teams.

The Business Case for Manager Development

I understand the budget pressures L&D teams are facing. Every investment has to show return. So here's how I think about the business case for investing in managers:

Managers are the multiplier. When you develop an individual contributor, you improve one person's performance. When you develop a manager effectively, you improve the performance, engagement and development of everyone on their team.

The research backs this up. According to LinkedIn’s Workplace Learning Report, 94% of employees would stay at a company longer if it invested in their career development. And managers are the primary source for that development—through the feedback they give, the opportunities they create and the coaching conversations they have.

A participant in our webinar put it this way: “Younger employees are looking to their managers for purpose.” That's not something you can deliver through a learning management system alone. It has to come through equipped, confident managers who know how to have those conversations.

3 Big Questions About Your Manager Development

As you think about your organization’s development programs for managers, consider these questions:

1. Does your current development approach fit managers’ reality—time constraints, hybrid work, information overload—or does it ask them to carve out time they don't have?

2. Are you providing managers with multiple types of support (learning, peer connection, coaching), or relying on a single approach?

3. What percentage of your development budget is specifically focused on managers (not just executives)?

The manager squeeze is real. But it's also addressable—when we design support that meets managers where they are and helps them build the capabilities they need right now.

Ready to Strengthen Your Manager Pipeline?

For over 17 years, Newberry Solutions has helped Fortune 500 companies develop high-performing leaders through coaching, consulting and our award-winning New Lens® leadership development platform. Whether you’re looking for executive coaching for senior leaders, scalable development solutions for managers at all levels or help designing a leadership development strategy that fits your organization's reality, we can help. Contact us to learn more.

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Don’t wait for performance to drop before taking action. Discover how the New Lens® platform helps organizations support managers with bite-sized, actionable learning—built for today’s fast-paced, high-stress environments.

Why Cutting Leadership Development Costs More Than Keeping It

Can you believe we’re in the last quarter of 2025? I’m hearing a lot from organizations that are mapping out spending for next year and figuring out how leadership development fits into their budgets. Amid today’s economic uncertainty, areas that are seen as discretionary—like learning and development—can seem like an easy target for cuts.

Again and again, though, I’ve watched companies discover that these “savings” are ultimately erased, as unprepared leaders create costly problems over time. Here’s the bottom line: The cost of NOT investing in leadership development dramatically exceeds the investment itself. If you’re an HR or L&D professional, I know you know this. But I also know that it can be challenging to convince budget decision-makers. So I want to help. In this article, I’ve compiled some of the most powerful evidence that leadership development delivers an impressive ROI, all supported by my firsthand observations as a longtime coach and the creator of the New Lens® learning platform.

Photo by Christina Morillo

The Hidden Cost of Unprepared Managers

Low employee engagement can be a strong sign of inadequate leadership development. Before I explain why, let’s consider the scale of the problem: The cost of employee disengagement in the U.S. alone is approximately $2 trillion in lost productivity annually. Two trillion dollars of wasted potential, every single year.

When disengaged employees leave, the financial hit becomes even more tangible. The cost of replacing an employee ranges from about 200% of annual salary for leaders and managers, to 80% for technical professionals, to 40% for frontline workers. And these figures only capture the direct costs. The broader impact includes disrupted team dynamics, lost institutional knowledge, decreased morale among remaining employees and reduced productivity during transitions.

What does employee engagement have to do with leadership development? Managers account for 70% of the variance in team engagement. In other words, your managers are the single most influential factor in whether your employees are engaged, productive and committed—or disengaged, underperforming and actively job hunting.

Managers Are Struggling

But these all-important employees are also having their own engagement struggles—another sign that they haven’t been adequately prepared for the growing challenges of leading others in today’s intense business environment.

Manager engagement has declined sharply, falling from 30% in 2023 to 27% in 2024. The drops have been particularly steep among younger managers (under 35) and female managers, who are shouldering unprecedented pressure. When managers are disengaged, the effect cascades throughout their teams. According to Gallup, 52% of employees who voluntarily left their jobs said their manager or organization could have done something to prevent their departure. Even more revealing: About 42% of all turnover is viewed by employees as preventable—meaning they believe the organization or manager could have taken action to retain them.

Yet despite the critical role managers play, only 44% report having received any formal management training. Untrained “accidental managers” land in their roles based solely on organizational need, not their own readiness or enthusiasm for leadership.

The Business Case for Leadership Investment

Does leadership development really move the needle on critical issues like productivity, engagement and retention? The findings on ROI are remarkably consistent across studies, and they paint a compelling picture:

• Companies that provide targeted training to their employees see a 17% jump in productivity and a 21% increase in profitability. An Accenture study found that for every dollar invested in training, companies received $4.53 in return—a 353% ROI.

• Organizations with well-rounded training programs generate 218% higher income per employee and can boast a 24% higher profit margin than those without formalized training initiatives. These aren't marginal improvements—they're transformational differences in organizational performance.

• When employees are highly engaged—largely driven by quality management—turnover drops by 51%, well-being improves by 68%, and productivity increases by 23%. Organizations with strong onboarding processes improve new hire retention by 82%, and effective training can reduce employee turnover by 30% to 50%.

• 70% of employees would consider leaving their current job for a company that invests more heavily in employee development.

• Well-structured programs deliver measurable results: a 25% increase in learning outcomes, a 20% improvement in job performance, and a 28% boost in effective leadership behaviors.

Learn More About Leadership Development ROI

Of course, simply having a leadership development program does not guarantee these results. Organizations globally invest $60 billion annually in these programs, yet many underperform or fail entirely because of poor design, delivery and evaluation. Choosing a program with a solid ROI can feel overwhelming, but we have a wealth of resources to help you find the right fit for your organization. 

As a starting point, check out our webinars which include powerful trends and practical ideas from our experience and executives at leading companies, especially “The 3C’s of Driving Employee Growth & Retention” and “3 Hurdles When Implementing a Leadership Development Program & How to Avoid Them.” (And don’t forget to sign up for future webinars!) 

As always, please do get in touch if we can help. We’ve been at this for 17 years! From New Lens to executive coaching, our offerings are proven, practical and tailored to your needs.

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Don’t wait for performance to drop before taking action. Discover how the New Lens® platform helps organizations support managers with bite-sized, actionable learning—built for today’s fast-paced, high-stress environments.

Unlock the Secrets to Leadership Development That Actually Works: Join Our June Webinar

Are your organization's leadership development efforts falling short? You're not alone. Despite the billions spent annually on leadership training, many programs fail to produce meaningful results. We're tackling this critical issue in our upcoming free webinar, “3 Hurdles When Implementing a Leadership Development Program & How to Avoid Them.” Join us on Thursday, June 26 at 9 a.m. CT to discover practical strategies that will help ensure your leadership development programs deliver the results you need.

You Can’t Afford Ineffective Programs

We chose this topic because it’s one that keeps executives and HR leaders awake at night. The statistics paint a troubling picture. Companies globally invest massive resources in leadership development, yet many organizations still fail to meet their leadership standards:

• About 75% of employees believe their managers are ineffective.

• Leader and manager effectiveness is a top priority for 60% of HR leaders.

• Only 12% of companies are confident in the strength of their leadership bench.

• More than three-quarters of companies believe they are experiencing a leadership gap.

Meanwhile, more than half of organizations with effective leadership development programs at all levels report being in the top 10% of their industry's financial performance (54%), compared with just 31% for organizations with effective programs at only one leader level. The business case for getting leadership development right is clear.

The Human Toll of Unprepared Leaders

Beyond financial considerations, ineffective leadership development has profound human costs:

• 84% of respondents in a Society for Human Resource Management study said poorly trained managers create stress and extra work.

• Ineffective leaders even hurt employees’ health.

• More than half of managers feel burned out, partly because they lack the training and preparation needed to excel in their roles.

These statistics highlight why leadership development can’t be treated as just another HR initiative. It's a strategic imperative that directly affects employee engagement, retention, and business performance.

Let’s Talk About Solutions

While the challenges are significant, there are clear strategies for overcoming them. And we’ll be covering them in our June 26 webinar. Join us to learn about:

• The key barriers that prevent leadership programs from gaining traction and delivering impact

• Why traditional learning methods often fail to stick—and what actually works

• Practical ways to integrate leadership development into employees’ daily work without adding more to their plates

• How our New Lens® learning platform eliminates common roadblocks to make implementation seamless and effective

Spaces are limited, so reserve your spot for this free webinar now. We’ll see you at 9 a.m. Central time on Thursday, June 26!

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Don’t wait for performance to drop before taking action. Discover how the New Lens® platform helps organizations support managers with bite-sized, actionable learning—built for today’s fast-paced, high-stress environments.

The hidden crisis affecting managers: key insights from our recent webinar

Last week, Newberry Solutions hosted the webinar “How to Know Your Managers Are in Crisis and What to Do About It,” and I'm still energized by the incredible insights and engagement we experienced. Huge thanks to my guests: Amy Happ, Director of Leadership Development at Grant Thornton Advisors LLC, and Renda Mathew, Senior Vice President and Dallas Market President at Truist Financial Corporation, as well as everyone who joined us for this important conversation.

For those who couldn't attend, I wanted to share some of the key takeaways that can help you support your managers before burnout takes hold. Manager well-being directly impacts team performance, engagement, and retention—making this a critical business priority.

Managers Feel Stress, Unprepared

The statistics we discussed during the webinar are sobering: One in five managers would prefer not to be people managers if given a choice. That's 20% of your management team potentially feeling mismatched with their roles. Additionally, 71% of leaders told DDI their stress has gone up significantly, and only 30% report having enough time to do their jobs properly.

There’s also been an evolution in what we expect from leaders. Leadership has become a specialized profession requiring comprehensive development, with the complexity amplifying to a whole new level. Today's managers are often caught in the middle—Amy points out that they’re managing up, across and down simultaneously—frequently without adequate preparation for these multifaceted responsibilities.

Three Critical Signs Your Managers Are Struggling

1. Behavioral Changes Signal Distress

Watch for increasing absenteeism, decreased engagement, and difficulty making decisions. These warning signs often appear before performance issues become apparent. For many managers, there's precious little bandwidth left for development, relationship-building, or recovery from stress.

2. Team Dynamics Reflect Leadership Challenges

When managers are in crisis, their teams show it, too. Rising team turnover, declining engagement scores, and increased escalations to higher leadership all indicate potential manager burnout. Our panelists emphasized that managers create a ripple effect through organizations. With 70% of managers not trained on how to lead a hybrid team, both managers and their teams struggle with the new realities of distributed work. This preparation gap shows up in team performance and may accelerate manager burnout.

3. Communication Patterns Shift

Notice when typically responsive managers become slower to reply, less thorough in their communication, or absent from important discussions. This could be a sign they’re not recovering from high-stress moments, As Amy pointed out, “We're often not doing our best work when we're at that high-stress level.”

The recovery stage—bringing stress levels down so managers can return to peak performance—is essential but frequently overlooked. Without this recovery time, managers enter a cycle of diminishing returns where they work harder but accomplish less, further feeding their stress.

Practical Support Strategies That Work

We explored several interventions that have proven effective across industries:

Clarify priorities and establish boundaries

Your managers have different needs based on their life stage and circumstances. Understanding this is critical to preventing burnout. Renda shared how her executive team is sensitive to how much time they're requesting from managers, a common issue recognised by most organizations.

I also talked about the importance of the “Big 3” framework—the three areas where managers should focus to drive the biggest business impact, given their role and strengths. This clarity helps them reserve bandwidth for strategic work by getting other tasks off their plates.

Create peer communities

Both of our guest speakers emphasized the power of cohort models and peer-to-peer relationships. Amy described how pairing managers in groups of four to six creates a sweet spot for meaningful engagement. These peer networks provide support, accountability and a safe space to discuss challenges.

Renda noted that Truist often pairs employees across geographical regions to foster cross-market perspectives and learning. This helps managers understand different approaches and builds a broader support network.

Provide micro-learning opportunities

With employees having an average of only 24 minutes per week for learning—typically interrupted every three minutes—traditional development approaches won't work. Learning must happen in the flow of work with bite-sized content that fits into busy schedules, and that’s been a huge part of us developing our New Lens® microlearning leadership development platform.

Amy introduced the concept of “microchillers”—brief recovery techniques (like a few simple stretches) managers can use when feeling overwhelmed. These short interventions help bring stress levels down so managers can return to peak performance.

Focus on well-being as a foundation

One of the most powerful insights from our discussion was that manager effectiveness is intrinsically linked to well-being. As Renda put it, “The well-being and effectiveness of a manager or leader or of a teammate—they're intertwined. The effectiveness is really reliant on how their well-being is going.”

Organizations must recognize that investing in development programs won't yield results if managers are too burnt out to implement what they're learning. Start by checking burnout levels before implementing new tools or training.

Taking Action in Your Organization

Our speakers highlighted the value of having intentional one-on-ones. Renda shared, “I have weekly one-on-ones with each of my teammates. I spend time asking them about their life first, and then we get into the numbers and talk about what's happening in their work.”

This approach creates space for understanding what's really happening with your managers so you can offer appropriate support. Regular check-ins also provide opportunities to connect managers with others who can help with specific challenges.

Begin by checking in with your managers using open-ended questions about their challenges and needs. Then look for patterns that might indicate where organizational changes could make the biggest difference.

Ready to Prevent Manager Burnout Before It Starts?

Don’t wait for performance to dip before taking action. Discover how the New Lens® platform helps organizations support managers with bite-sized, actionable learning—built for today’s fast-paced, high-stress environments.

👉 Join our live demo on May 23 at 9 a.m. CT to see how you can empower your managers to thrive, not just survive. [Register now]

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Don’t wait for performance to drop before taking action. Discover how the New Lens® platform helps organizations support managers with bite-sized, actionable learning—built for today’s fast-paced, high-stress environments.