The Critical Need for Formal People Manager Training

Why do new people managers instantly experience executive burnout?

An astonishing 83% of new people managers receive zero formal leadership training, instantly accelerating executive burnout across the public relations industry. To protect their well-being, new leaders must fiercely prioritize their physical health over new titles, redefine communication as a critical hard skill, and establish safe peer learning communities

I recently polled nearly 400 new people managers in the public relations profession. When asked if they received formal manager training, I learned only 17 percent have, while 83 percent received informal or zero training.

It’s no wonder why the people manager is the most challenging position in our profession. We don’t know how to be one.

And because we don’t know how to be one, we get overwhelmed and burned out, impacting our well-being and those we manage.

Reflecting on my career, I realized I lacked formal management training. I had great managers to model and follow, but as I examined times I learned tough lessons, many were due to a lack of education in several areas that I should have learned much earlier.

We need to address proper training of new people managers in a relatable, practical, and actionable way so they can immediately develop into trusted advisors for their clients and teams.

If you’re a new people manager or responsible for helping build a new group of people managers, please take these three tips to heart.

New titles, money, and responsibilities should never come at the cost of your well-being.

Your well-being is always paramount to any updated title or list of responsibilities. Often, we take on new challenges with a positive mindset, which is great until the nights are longer and the weekends are shorter. We feel guilty about taking a vacation, and those back-to-back all-day meetings are more the standard than the exception.

You are no good to your clients and teams if you’re well-being isn’t at 100 percent, and most importantly, it’s no good to you.

There are no “soft” skills, only “skills.”

Often we think about skills like “teamwork,” “communication,” “time management,” as “soft skills.” This is an inaccurate phrase that deemphasizes the importance of these skills to the well-being of the employee and business. The assumed “traditional” skills like writing, presenting, and creating spreadsheets mean nothing if you are unhealthy.

We need to call all these activities simply skills and weigh them as crucial as any other skill.

We must share and learn from one another.

It’s ok not to have all the answers. Many of us don’t!

Being a leader can be a lonely experience. Even with all the training, it’s nothing if there isn’t an environment where people can learn and share ideas safely.

Find a group of peers, whether in your organization or through other avenues, to formally connect with regularly. Share ideas and be vulnerable. You’ll be surprised how much you’ll hear about others going through the same challenges.

So, ask yourself: are you in the 17 or 83 percent? And if you’re in the 83 percent, what steps will you take soon?