Managers lack confidence when talking to employees about informal issues 

Recent research reveals that HR leaders are less confident in managers’ ability to hold effective conversations around informal issues compared with more formal topics such as objective-setting and development. Overall, HR respondents indicated a ‘medium’ level of confidence in managers’ ability to talk about formal issues, however for more informal matters such as employee wellbeing and flexible working, confidence levels were significantly lower.

The research study, which involved 20 in-depth interviews with senior HR leaders between January and April 2022, was commissioned by OpenBlend – the platform for effective conversations at work – and suggests managers need more guidance on how to broach and discuss the informal issues that have an increasing impact on employee performance in the new world of work.

Most notably, the research revealed a key correlation between high manager confidence and high organisational performance. Findings showed that the more confident a business is in its managers’ ability to have those grassroots conversations, the more likely it is to exhibit high organisational performance.

Commenting on the research study, Anna Rasmussen, Founder & CEO at OpenBlend, said: “Inevitably, managers will feel more comfortable talking about certain topics over others but if we neglect the human side, the data clearly shows that business performance will suffer. If the business can communicate the importance of enabling broad conversations that focus not just on objective-setting, but on wellbeing and the employee’s relationship with work, managers will become instrumental in helping to create the associated performance gains.”