CHROs urged to ‘reset’ managers amid widening priorities gap

“This is not about devaluing individual relationships, but about aligning them with the performance-first management framework,” Gartner said. 

“To build more objective managers, CHROs need to be prepared to offer holistic training, tools, and consistent reinforcement to help managers make business-first decisions as they manage their teams.”

Managers face imbalance

Gartner’s suggestion comes amid an imbalance faced by managers in their roles, as performance and productivity pull ahead of employee engagement and retention in the post-pandemic executive agendas.

“Today, business leaders are contending with a persistently fragile economy, the disruptive integration of GenAI and rising geopolitical volatility,” said Tess Lawrence, principal analyst in the Gartner HR practice, in a statement.

“As a result, performance and productivity have moved ahead of engagement and retention as top workforce priorities.”