Recent research from the Institute for Employment Studies has reinforced the importance of the employee-line manager relationship. 2009 reserach into the impact of line managers on employee engagement came up with 'identical conclusions' to a 2004 study into line managers as developers of people, which is that the employee-line manager relationship is crucial. This backs up a large volume of other research down the years (e.g. Gallup, CIPD etc) which has consistently shown the same thing.

The IES research looked at which behaviours were most characteristic of engaging managers (i.e. those who's teams were highly engaged when questioned). The most important behaviour was clear communication and direction so that team members know what's expected of them, followed by listening and involving the team.  The most common characteristic of disengaging managers was lack of empathy with, and interest in, people.

The IES auditors have created a practical five-point framework for managers to follow based on their research. The five headings are:

1. Setting the climate
2. Building a developmental relationship
3. Giving feedback and focus
4. Delivering development
5. Encouraging active career development  

Youmanage MD, Phil Brown, commented on the results, "I don't think these results will be a big surprise to anyone, although it's always useful to see empirical back-up for what most people instinctively know to be true, which is that good line management has a massive impact both on short-term employee performance and the longer-term realising of an employee's potential.

"However the real issue for most organisations is not about knowing what managers should be doing, it's creating the conditions in which they actually do those things. This requires a number of factors to come together.

"Organisations themselves need to create the right climate in which good people management is valued and positively promoted (as opposed to just paid lip service to). A lot of this has to come from senior management - both acting as positive role models and also creating the necessary headroom for managers to manage their people, alongside delivery of their functional tasks.

"Managers also need to be better equipped to do the job required of them - this means giving them the right training but also the right on-the-job tools to be genuinely effective. Too often organisations talk about greater line management accountability and empowerment but fail to equip them to do the job well."

For more information on the subject of enabling and empowering line managers please visit www.youmanage.co.uk/pages/resources.asp.