What is Manager Disconnect?
/Manager Disconnect is a phenomenon where a manager has walked away from their managerial responsibilities. They want the pay … but not the responsibility.
At a team level, employee satisfaction ratings with their organisation normally lag about 20% behind their satisfaction ratings for their manager.
But when this lag stretches out past 30% (and we’ve seen it go past 70%), then we start to wonder about the potential for Manager Disconnect. Sometimes, the gap in ratings is due to the presence of an outstanding manager, but generally it is a sign of a disconnected manager.
The organisation can address a case of Manager Disconnect by bringing the associated behaviours to the manager’s attention, educating the manager about their role, and assisting them in doing the hard yards rather than letting the manager adopt a ‘self-protect strategy’ or ‘buy’ the friendship of their staff.