Businesses 'must value role of middle managers'

UK businesses have been reminded of the crucial role middle managers can play in the smooth running of a successful operation.

The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) has published its quarterly Employee Outlook survey of 2,000 employees, revealing that middle managers currently feel undervalued and under excessive pressure.

According to the organisation, this group can often be targeted for redundancy by companies that are seeking to reduce the headcount, but this does not take into account their importance to change management and business transformation processes.

Ben Willmott, head of public policy at the CIPD, said middle managers can take charge of motivating regular workers and translating senior leadership objectives into action.

"Much of this can be lost if change simply involves 'delayering' this middle-management tier, rather than refocusing, retraining and drawing on their skills and experiences," he explained.

This follows the publication of a recent Forrester Research study suggesting that change management will be a key area in which companies need to refresh their skill set in 2012.

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