The disappearing glue
Middle managers are more than a structural layer. They are the connective tissue in an organization, translate strategy into action, the alignment of teams and serve as a cultural anchor. When they disappear, clarity often disappears with them. Korn Ferry’s data show that 43% of the employees believe that their managers are not aligned, while 37% feel without direction.
The talent development also suffers from Kohäsionstank.
“The most effective development of leadership skills is the job,” says Amato. “It is a combination of jobs first designed that are feasible so that people are successful in them and are not overwhelmed by them and then find these interesting career paths that help people to be well rounded.”
However, since high-ranking managers do more work due to the absence of central managers, other efforts such as skills building, mentoring and career progress take a back seat for more young employees.
As a result, it is more likely that high artists, the lack of instructions and growth, are more likely to get out. In fact, 80% of the employees state to stay in a company because they trust their manager.
Managers who do not have the bandwidth to motivate and engage their direct reports also give the opportunity to achieve an expression. Korn Ferry found that highly committed, motivated workers achieve twice the sales growth of their least committed colleagues. This commitment begins with managers who have the time and clarity.
The new leadership mandate
In order to remain competitive, companies have to rethink how the leadership is structured and supported, says Amato. While the cutting of bureaucracy is commendable, it is a risky compromise to remove those who turn into reality.
“Before you jump to solutions, whether it is cut or something else, you have to diagnose your own organization,” says Amato. This means that data for evaluating work processes, spot pressure points and understanding the leadership are overloaded.
For organizations that may have cut too deeply, the reintroduction of layers is not the solution.
Instead, the focus should be on the redesign of leadership roles to ensure that managers maintain the strategic amount, redistribute the workload and create career paths in order to obtain top talents.
The message is clear, says Amato. The top cannot lead without the middle – and the floor will not follow.
In the race slim, faster and more innovativeMany companies have eliminated layers of middle management. Although flattering structures on paper can look efficient, a hidden cost quickly appears in the orgiagram.
Accordingly Korn Ferry’s 2025 Workforce Survey41% of employees say that their organizations have cut off the management layers. Leading managers in turn take up more direct reports, once operational tasks do the operational tasks and lose critical time for strategic focus. Almost half now question their ability to fulfill their responsibilities – a number that even exceeds the 40% of CEOs that report similar doubts.
The logic behind flattening is often solid: reducing costs, Accelerate decision makingAnd Eliminate bureaucracy. And if it is enthusiastic about care, it can unlock real profits. But AS Korn Ferry The Senior Kund partner Maria Amato warns and cuts the middle management without proper scaffolding, which overwhelm managers and presented employees.
The disappearing glue
Middle managers are more than a structural layer. They are the connective tissue in an organization, translate strategy into action, the alignment of teams and serve as a cultural anchor. When they disappear, clarity often disappears with them. Korn Ferry’s data show that 43% of the employees believe that their managers are not aligned, while 37% feel without direction.
The talent development also suffers from Kohäsionstank.
“The most effective development of leadership skills is the job,” says Amato. “It is a combination of jobs first designed that are feasible so that people are successful in them and are not overwhelmed by them and then find these interesting career paths that help people to be well rounded.”
However, since high-ranking managers do more work due to the absence of central managers, other efforts such as skills building, mentoring and career progress take a back seat for more young employees.
As a result, it is more likely that high artists, the lack of instructions and growth, are more likely to get out. In fact, 80% of the employees state to stay in a company because they trust their manager.
Managers who do not have the bandwidth to motivate and engage their direct reports also give the opportunity to achieve an expression. Korn Ferry found that highly committed, motivated workers achieve twice the sales growth of their least committed colleagues. This commitment begins with managers who have the time and clarity.
The new leadership mandate
In order to remain competitive, companies have to rethink how the leadership is structured and supported, says Amato. While the cutting of bureaucracy is commendable, it is a risky compromise to remove those who turn into reality.
“Before you jump to solutions, whether it is cut or something else, you have to diagnose your own organization,” says Amato. This means that data for evaluating work processes, spot pressure points and understanding the leadership are overloaded.
For organizations that may have cut too deeply, the reintroduction of layers is not the solution.
Instead, the focus should be on the redesign of leadership roles to ensure that managers maintain the strategic amount, redistribute the workload and create career paths in order to obtain top talents.
The message is clear, says Amato. The top cannot lead without the middle – and the floor will not follow.
This story was originally on Fortune.com