What Are the Organizational Effects of Lack of Training for General Managers?

Managers require specialized training to function in their roles, but the expense and time involved often leaves companies reluctant to make it a priority. However, a manager who gets little or no training can cost his company where it matters most -- in reduced productivity and profits. Lack of training also makes itself felt through an inconsistent leadership style, which often convinces top-level employees that they're better off working somewhere else.

To help an organization achieve its objectives, employees who become supervisors need specific training in conflict resolution, delegating work assignments, interview techniques and state and federal regulatory changes. As the business and political climate changes, so does the organization's overall vision and mission, according to the North Dakota Office of Management and Budget. Employees expect supervisors to guide them through such transitions. Lack of managerial training, however, decreases the organization's ability to adapt -- and cope effectively -- with change.

The employee-supervisor relationship is the biggest factor in determining whether a company keeps its top-level talent. However, there's no common agreement on an effective manager's skill set, so the quality of these relationships varies across the board, according to "Forbes" magazine. Poor managers lack the relevant soft skills to keep employees engaged, happy and productive. Failure to remedy the situation will prompt high-performing employees to take their talents elsewhere, which drives up the company's cost of recruiting and training replacements.

Lack of engagement doesn't only affect rank-and-file employees. For example, just 33 percent of managers surveyed for the Conference Board Report were regarded as strong performers, "HR Professional" magazine reports. By contrast, the report also suggested that 66 percent of employees felt little or inclination to advance their organization's goals and objectives. Poor managers focus less on their leadership responsibilities than collecting a paycheck. Such attitudes, in turn, filter through an organization, which jeopardizes its long-term growth and survival.

No business will survive without turning out a quality product, and managers are the chief driver in that effort. Whether that goal happens consistently, however, depends on a manager's interactions with the employees responsible for producing it, as "HR Professional" notes. Without good management, workers feel little or no incentive to perform at a high level, let alone care about what they're doing. Companies recover from poor performers who quit, but that scenario is less likely when bad managers stop trying, and stay on the job.