Most managers don't fail because they don't care. In my experience, they care enormously. They fail because they don't have the right support at the right moment.
Based on a webinar I hosted earlier this year, here's what's making management so hard right now – and what a practical response looks like.
The rise of the player-coach
Management has always been demanding, but recently something has shifted. Budgets are tighter, headcount has been cut in many organisations, and management layers have been flattened. The result is the player-coach: a manager carrying a full day job alongside responsibility for a team.
That manager is still expected to hit their own targets. But now they're also expected to run one-to-ones, set goals, manage performance, support wellbeing and develop their people. And when the diary is full, it's the people side that is usually the first thing to give. Not because it matters less, but because it's the part with no deadline attached – until, suddenly, it has one.
Where manager improvement gets stuck
When I talk to managers about what they find hardest, the same themes come up again and again.
Difficult conversations top the list. This can include addressing performance, raising a conduct concern, responding to a grievance, and talking to someone about their attendance. Most managers put them off, and the delay usually makes things worse.
Close behind is understanding what makes each person on their team tick. A manager with eight direct reports is managing eight different sets of motivations, communication styles and pressures. Treating everyone the same feels fair, but it rarely gets the best from anyone.
Underneath both is confidence. Many managers were promoted because they were good at the job, not because they'd shown a talent for leading people. They're learning as they go, often without much of a safety net.
Why the traditional fixes fall short
The usual responses are training and HR support. Both help. But training fades, and HR teams are stretched too thin to sit alongside every manager for every conversation.
I talk often about the fact that training tends to happen in a block, often well before the manager needs it, and by the time the situation arises much of the knowledge has faded. HR support is there when a tough moment comes, but HR teams are stretched too, and there simply aren't enough of us to sit alongside every manager for every conversation. If we try, we become a bottleneck, and managers never build their own capability.
A blended approach: learn it, know them, apply it
In practice, managers need three things working together.
Structured learning gives managers the foundations they need. Good-quality content that builds a shared understanding of the fundamentals – how your processes work, what good looks like, the models and techniques that actually help. Short, accessible and available on demand works better than information crammed into a single day.
Personalised insight into their people is what makes that learning useful. Managers don't need to become psychometric experts, but they do need practical guidance on adapting their approach to the individual. What does this person need from a conversation? How are they likely to react? What will motivate them?
In-the-moment coaching is the piece that has historically been missing. When a manager is preparing for a difficult conversation on a Tuesday afternoon, they need support right then – not a memory of a course they attended last spring.
This is where AI-powered coaching like MyTeamBuilder is starting to change what's possible. It can sit alongside the manager in the moment of need, drawing on your policies and on an understanding of the individual, and help them plan and rehearse. It won't replace HR or human judgement. But it can extend meaningful support to every manager – not just the ones who ask for it the most or happen to have a great mentor.
What good looks like
For HR leaders trying to reduce the burden on their teams and L&D professionals looking for something that scales, I think good looks like this: managers who understand the basics, adapt to their people, and feel confident handling everyday situations themselves, with HR freed up to focus on the genuinely complex cases. That's what sustainable manager improvement looks like in practice.
The three work best in combination – covering managers from the moment they first encounter a skill through to the afternoon they actually need to use it.
Every manager deserves a coach. Now they can have one
Most organisations can't afford to give every manager a dedicated coach. MyTeamBuilder changes that – bringing AI-powered, psychology-backed coaching into the moments that matter most, and making manager improvement something that happens in real time, not just in the training room. Book a demo here.
About the author
Karen Lough is director of people at Ciphr. She has nearly 20 years’ experience in learning and development and leading key transformation projects, including capability and behavioural frameworks, leadership development and performance management.