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How Many Employees For Each Manager – 5 Crucial Drivers Of Team Size · Enhance.training

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: How many employees for each manager?
• 0:03
  SPEAKER_00: Managers are expensive relative to employees.
• 0:06
  SPEAKER_00: Too many management layers or too many small teams and staff costs are higher than needed.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_00: Communication from the top to the bottom is slower, and there is more micromanagement, less staff development and lazy management practices.
• 0:21
  SPEAKER_00: Run a search and you get back a range between 3 and 15 plus employees per manager.
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_00: The staff numbers per manager is not just about complexity of staff role.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_00: I have managed and led teams in many different companies: household names, fast growth companies, turnaround situations, corporates through to SMEs.
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_00: In my experience and from research, there are five factors that have a big impact on the number of employees for each manager, being firstly the pace of change.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_00: Secondly, team capabilities versus business requirements.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_00: Third, the complexity of the work.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_00: Fourth, what tools and technology are available to the team.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_00: And then fifth, the specific role of the manager.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_00: For each, I explain the impact on effective management of teams and what you should consider when designing team sizes across your organisation.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_00: Applying a one size fits all is likely to be detrimental to your business and or your staff retention and costs.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_00: Don't focus on one factor.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_00: Consider all the factors and choose a sensible staff per manager ratio for that specific team and situation.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_00: I would love to hear your views, so please email me at support at enhance.training sharing what you agree with and what you disagree with.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_00: The first driver of staff per manager is the pace of change.
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_00: The pace of change a business experiences is driven by many factors.
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_00: Some factors driving a high pace of change include first sector upheavals caused by legislation, technology, competitor actions, etc.
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_00: Secondly, high business growth rates.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_00: Third, sector-specific technology advances through to general advances such as AI.
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_00: Fourth, significant changes to internal business models or company strategy.
• 2:15
  SPEAKER_00: The higher the pace of change, the more managers need to provide support to team members with clearer direction in developing new skills and to deal with the uncertainty of change.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_00: The higher the pace of change, the less staff members a manager can effectively manage.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_00: In high growth businesses, managing somewhere between three and six direct reports would be much more effective than managing seven to ten direct reports.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_00: In a more mature business with processes, technology and working practices largely fixed, managers should look after greater numbers of direct reports, somewhere between five and ten say.
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_00: Humans don't like change, as a rule.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_00: Our brains are wired based on patterns.
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_00: The higher the pace of change, the more support teams need, and the manager is the best place to provide that support.
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_00: My name is Jess Coles.
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_00: If you're new to this podcast, Enhanced.training provides resources and courses for you to build management expertise and confidence to lead any team to their best performance.
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_00: I've included links to additional resources to help you develop the expertise of your managers years earlier.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_00: Do take a look at these.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_00: The second driver of the number of employees for each manager is team capabilities versus the business requirements.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_00: The bigger the gap between the team capability and where the team needs to be to deliver what is required from them, the less staff a manager should look after.
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_00: If all team members have the right level of skills for the job the team needs them to do, then the manager doesn't need to spend time developing those skills.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_00: The manager can very effectively look after more staff, say somewhere between five and ten.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_00: The ability of staff to hire is also a factor.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_00: Hiring staff in with the right skills is a quicker but more expensive way to improve team capability.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_00: Just remember, more skilled staff increase a team's potential.
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_00: The operating practices of the manager and team determine how much potential is realized in better team performance.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_00: Training and developing a team together is very good for improving teamwork compared to hiring lots of new faces.
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_00: Better teamwork usually increases team performance.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_00: Take this into account too.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_00: Another factor to consider is the lower the performance of the team, the more capability development is needed in the team which takes manager time.
• 4:43
  SPEAKER_00: Always consider the team development requirements placed on a manager when determining how many staff they should manage.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_00: The third factor for how many employees for each manager is the complexity of work undertaken.
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_00: The complexity of work undertaken by the manager is just as important as the complexity of work undertaken by team members when considering the overall complexity.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_00: Factors that increase complexity of work include firstly the technical difficulty, i.e.
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_00: the level of skills and knowledge needed to do the task or activity well.
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_00: Secondly, the variability of tasks and activities.
• 5:23
  SPEAKER_00: Third, the number of problems to solve on a daily or weekly basis, or the creativity or innovation levels needed.
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_00: Fourth, how many and what type of decisions need to be made and by whom.
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_00: Fifth, how interdependent the roles are within the team and the wider business.
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_00: The greater the autonomy and the lower the touch points with other team members, the lower the complexity in general.
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_00: Sixth, the level of tools and automation possible or present.
• 5:53
  SPEAKER_00: Seventh, how difficult and the speed of communication with colleagues and stakeholders.
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_00: I.e.
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_00: hybrid and remote environments make communication harder and slower.
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_00: The more complex the environment to manage, the lower the number of direct reports a manager should have, and vice versa, of course.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_00: For low complexity of tasks, say ones that an average person can pick up within a month or two, a manager might very effectively manage 15 staff.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_00: Call centres and highly prescriptive roles are great examples.
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_00: For highly complex roles, a manager might only be able to manage three to four staff members effectively.
• 6:33
  SPEAKER_00: Ask how involved a manager needs to get in helping and supporting their team members on a daily basis to deal with task complexity.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_00: The fourth factor impacting manager versus staff ratios are what tools and technology are available for use by the team.
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_00: Work done by systems needs a fraction of the management time that staff need.
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_00: Systems and automated tools tend to standardize the tasks and activities of the staff and increase visibility of workflow.
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_00: Both of these results in less management time needed to control, understand, organise, etc.
• 7:09
  SPEAKER_00: the tasks and activities of the team.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_00: The better the tools and systems for staff members, the greater number of staff a manager can effectively look after.
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_00: Across the business, investment in technology translates into less staff and less managers, flattening the organizational structure.
• 7:27
  SPEAKER_00: The accessibility and cost of systems and automated tools keep improving.
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_00: Look at different ways that you can implement tools and systems too.
• 7:37
  SPEAKER_00: Firstly, manage projects more effectively.
• 7:40
  SPEAKER_00: Secondly, increase communication and collaboration.
• 7:43
  SPEAKER_00: Third, increase coordination and visibility of workflows.
• 7:47
  SPEAKER_00: In my experience, the more complex a working environment, the more face-to-face time is needed to increase staff performance.
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_00: Communication is a lot more effective face-to-face.
• 7:58
  SPEAKER_00: The more automated and prescriptive the work, the more staff a manager can effectively look after.
• 8:05
  SPEAKER_00: The fifth factor for how many staff per manager is the role of the manager itself.
• 8:11
  SPEAKER_00: The first four factors we've talked about today are largely external factors to the manager.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_00: This factor is all about what specific job you are asking the manager to do.
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_00: What is their exact role and what goals and objectives are you giving them?
• 8:26
  SPEAKER_00: A few examples.
• 8:28
  SPEAKER_00: If you just wanted the manager to control and organise the work throughout the team, and the team members were largely self-sufficient, without development needs, you might give the manager say 12 staff members to manage.
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_00: The manager would be able to maintain team output at this level.
• 8:44
  SPEAKER_00: If you wanted the manager to control and coordinate work, provide some development, increase motivation and engagement in the team and aim to improve team performance over time, and the team were doing say mid-level complexity tasks in a mature business, you might give the manager say seven or eight direct reports to look after.
• 9:02
  SPEAKER_00: If you wanted the manager to significantly increase the team capabilities, their motivation, their engagement, and increase the output and performance of the team, and the team were doing fairly complex tasks in a fast-growing business, you might give the manager say four or five direct reports to look after.
• 9:20
  SPEAKER_00: The role you ask your manager and the goals or objectives you set your manager are big drivers of the number of staff that they can effectively manage.
• 9:28
  SPEAKER_00: Some questions to consider when planning the number of direct reports for the manager.
• 9:33
  SPEAKER_00: Firstly, what increase in performance and output are you asking for on a team basis?
• 9:39
  SPEAKER_00: Secondly, how important is staff retention?
• 9:42
  SPEAKER_00: For example, if the staff with the right skills are hard to find and attract.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_00: Third, what capabilities gap does the manager need to close in the team?
• 9:51
  SPEAKER_00: Fourth, what tools and systems could the manager implement to make their job easier and more effective?
• 9:57
  SPEAKER_00: And then fifth, do you need a team with high levels of teamwork or is a group of individuals working largely independently sufficient?
• 10:05
  SPEAKER_00: The more you ask of your manager, the fewer the direct reports they should have to enable them to do their job well.
• 10:12
  SPEAKER_00: Your answers to questions posed and your overall staff strategy will impact the number of direct reports your manager should have to remain effective in their role.
• 10:24
  SPEAKER_00: So, in summary, I personally have worked in environments with a mixture of complexity, systems, capabilities, and expectations placed on me as the leader.
• 10:33
  SPEAKER_00: Most of the businesses I've worked in needed the team to make decisions and create solutions, and I nearly always created significant improvements in team performance.
• 10:42
  SPEAKER_00: As a result, I usually aimed for five to six direct reports.
• 10:47
  SPEAKER_00: This manager versus staff ratio is probably the most common that I've seen in most businesses that I've worked in.
• 10:53
  SPEAKER_00: Unless you manage staff doing straightforward roles and you are not asking much of the manager, more than seven or eight direct reports becomes difficult for the manager and counterproductive for the business itself.
• 11:05
  SPEAKER_00: If you have any questions on how many employees for each manager, five crucial drivers of team size, please email me at support at enhanced.training and I will get back to you.
• 11:17
  SPEAKER_00: Don't forget to visit us at enhanced.training and take a look at the resources and courses available to help your managers gain expertise years quicker to consistently improve team performance.
• 11:29
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks very much for listening, and I look forward to speaking to you again soon.