As organizations increasingly adopt flatter structures and embrace AI-driven efficiency, HR leaders are challenged to strengthen the role of the modern manager profile. A new report reveals how these key employees are now more critical than ever in creating the conditions where individuals and teams can thrive.
Talent and assessment platform SHL has issued a new white paper, The New Era in People Management, which details the expectations placed on managers in today’s dynamic workplace. Drawing on assessments of over 9,000 managers globally between 2020 and 2023, SHL finds that while many managers exhibit strengths in areas like technical expertise and strategic planning, they often lack the human-centric skills essential to leading modern teams.
Lucy Beaumont, talent management solution owner at SHL, explains how the role of the manager has changed. “In today’s world of hybrid work, digital transformation and shifting employee expectations, being a great manager is no longer just about supervising tasks—it’s about creating the conditions where people and businesses can thrive.”
Too often, she says, organizations treat people management as an add-on to technical or individual contributor roles rather than as a distinct discipline that requires development. This oversight can lead to stress, burnout and a loss of leadership potential for the organization.
The manager profile
SHL has developed a modern manager profile that defines the behaviors needed to succeed in today’s workplace. Beaumont says these behaviors focus on building culture, enabling meaningful work for employees and leading with insight and agility.
According to Beaumont, “Managing others is a critical skill in its own right, bringing significant value to employees, teams and organizations.”
Yet she’s found that many organizations still select or promote managers based on outdated criteria, emphasizing technical strengths while forgetting the need for essential leadership capabilities.
To address this disconnect, Beaumont outlines practical steps HR leaders can take to align their organization’s management practices with today’s needs:
- Clearly define and value people management skills as essential to business performance.
- Design management roles intentionally, not as side responsibilities to technical work.
- Develop an objective view of effective management, grounded in behavioral data and workplace trends.
- Hire and promote based on actual management potential, offering alternative pathways for advancement where needed.
- Foster cultures of trust and openness, enabling managers to lead authentically and effectively.
- Target talent programs to accelerate the development of true managerial capability.
- Support managers in adapting across cultural contexts, particularly in diverse and global organizations.
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