{"id":862670,"date":"2025-05-05T10:03:37","date_gmt":"2025-05-05T14:03:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.steelcase.com\/?p=862670"},"modified":"2025-10-15T10:27:21","modified_gmt":"2025-10-15T14:27:21","slug":"the-manager-crunch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.steelcase.com\/research\/articles\/topics\/culture-talent\/the-manager-crunch\/","title":{"rendered":"The Manager Crunch"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Organizations are under pressure because of significant workplace challenges such as office attendance changes, investors\u2019 demand for growth and productivity, the need to rapidly adopt new technology, and team members\u2019 mental health needs. Senior leaders rely on middle managers to execute plans and navigate these challenges, and the rising expectations of the people they manage add to the strain. Overall, they\u2019re doing more with less. According to a 2023 Gallup poll, 64% percent of middle managers have taken on additional responsibilities, with more than half saying they now lead restructured teams with less experience and fewer resources.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"pull-quote pull-quote-center \"><p>&#8220;Most managers love people and love doing their jobs \u2013 but we\u2019re finding that the intensity is increasing. The job, in many ways, is getting too big, and we\u2019re asking the world of managers right now.\u201d<\/p><cite>Gallup researcher Ben Wigert<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>Managers Struggle More Compared to Senior Leaders<span style=\"color: #ffffff;\">.<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-863464 size-large alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/images.steelcase.com\/image\/upload\/c_limit,dpr_auto,q_70,h_1024,w_1024\/v1744232178\/25-0252424.jpg\" alt=\"Work Better article\" width=\"1024\" height=\"1024\" \/><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div class=\"u-shaded u-shaded--light\">\n<h4>THEY ARE:<\/h4>\n<p><strong>12% <\/strong>less engaged<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0 7% <\/strong>less productive<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0 9% <\/strong>less likely to report good wellbeing<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0 8% <\/strong>less likely to feel connected to their company&#8217;s culture<\/p>\n<p><strong>14% <\/strong>more likely to leave their job<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h2><\/h2>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>The Privacy Divide: Leaders and Managers Disagree on Priority<span style=\"color: #ffffff;\">.<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-863461 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/images.steelcase.com\/image\/upload\/c_limit,dpr_auto,q_70,h_1024,w_1024\/v1744232219\/25-0252423.jpg\" alt=\"Work Better Article\" width=\"1024\" height=\"1024\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Leaders and managers agree privacy is essential, but there is a gap between what middle managers say they need and what leaders prioritize.<\/p>\n<p><strong>66%<\/strong> <strong>of managers<\/strong> say privacy is their most important need in the office, yet <strong>leaders rank it fourth<\/strong> on their list of things to improve after collaboration, wellbeing and focus.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>Similar Workload. Less Privacy.<span style=\"color: #ffffff;\">.<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-863462 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/images.steelcase.com\/image\/upload\/c_limit,dpr_auto,q_70,h_1024,w_1024\/v1744232256\/25-0252425.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"1024\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Middle managers have just as many meetings as senior leaders &#8211; and more than the individual contributors who report to them. Yet, they\u2019re less satisfied with their access to areas that allow them to focus and collaborate effectively.<\/p>\n<div class=\"u-shaded u-shaded--light\">\n<p><strong>Senior leaders are more likely to have private offices or more access to privacy, while middle managers often work with their teams in an open-plan environment.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>46%<\/strong> time spent by managers collaborating<br \/>\n<strong>48%<\/strong> time spent by directors + above collaborating<\/p>\n<p><strong>69%<\/strong> of managers say they don\u2019t have access to privacy<br \/>\n<strong>56%<\/strong> of senior leaders + above don\u2019t have access to privacy<\/p>\n<p><strong>33%<\/strong> of managers are dissatisfied with the office<br \/>\n<strong>23%<\/strong> of senior leaders + above are dissatisfied with the office.<\/p>\n<p>The result: Senior leaders like the office far more because it supports their needs better than managers&#8217;.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>Managers\u2019 Missing Input<\/h2>\n<p>Managers recognize the expectation to perform at a higher level but believe they lack a voice in shaping their office to support their needs.<\/p>\n<p><strong>49%<\/strong> of managers say they are not, or likely wouldn\u2019t be, considered in the layout of their office.<\/p>\n<p>Organizations can use the workplace to boost managers\u2019 performance and wellbeing. A diverse range of spaces within a team neighborhood creates a sense of community that builds trust and improves wellbeing. Giving people access to different types of privacy to focus and meet throughout the day will help alleviate stress by removing the barriers for managers and their employees to do great work.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"pull-quote pull-quote-center \"><p>&#8220;Our research shows that certain things are more difficult to do when we\u2019re apart. A work environment that supports connection, collaboration, creativity, and culture is essential to unlocking the potential of managers and their teams.&#8221;<\/p><cite>Ben Wigert, Gallup <\/cite><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>New research shows middle managers are feeling pressure from all sides right now, but an office designed to give them more choice and control at work can help.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":37261,"featured_media":862671,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"topic":[47679],"class_list":["post-862670","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","topic-culture-talent"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>The Modern Challenges of Middle Management - Steelcase<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The responsibilities of middle management has greatly increased due to the changes of the modern workplace - 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Steelcase","description":"The responsibilities of middle management has greatly increased due to the changes of the modern workplace - but how can these workers keep up?","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.steelcase.com\/research\/articles\/topics\/culture-talent\/the-manager-crunch\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Modern Challenges of Middle Management - Steelcase","og_description":"The responsibilities of middle management has greatly increased due to the changes of the modern workplace - but how can these workers keep up?","og_url":"https:\/\/www.steelcase.com\/research\/articles\/topics\/culture-talent\/the-manager-crunch\/","og_site_name":"Steelcase","article_published_time":"2025-05-05T14:03:37+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-10-15T14:27:21+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":600,"url":"https:\/\/images.steelcase.com\/image\/upload\/c_fill,dpr_auto,q_70,h_600,w_1200\/v1743443580\/25-0252422.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Gema Perez","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Gema Perez","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.steelcase.com\/research\/articles\/topics\/culture-talent\/the-manager-crunch\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.steelcase.com\/research\/articles\/topics\/culture-talent\/the-manager-crunch\/"},"author":{"name":"Gema Perez","@id":"https:\/\/www.steelcase.com\/#\/schema\/person\/494e3c13cba2b472b7a797655f0f9ea9"},"headline":"The Manager Crunch","datePublished":"2025-05-05T14:03:37+00:00","dateModified":"2025-10-15T14:27:21+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.steelcase.com\/research\/articles\/topics\/culture-talent\/the-manager-crunch\/"},"wordCount":532,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.steelcase.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.steelcase.com\/research\/articles\/topics\/culture-talent\/the-manager-crunch\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/images.steelcase.com\/image\/upload\/v1743443580\/25-0252422.jpg","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.steelcase.com\/research\/articles\/topics\/culture-talent\/the-manager-crunch\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.steelcase.com\/research\/articles\/topics\/culture-talent\/the-manager-crunch\/","url":"https:\/\/www.steelcase.com\/research\/articles\/topics\/culture-talent\/the-manager-crunch\/","name":"The Modern Challenges of Middle Management - 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