Leading Middle Management: Consequences of Organisational Changes for Tasks and Behaviours of Middle Managers

Abstract

Over the last few years, middle management has been subject to a lot of criticism and theoretical debate. This was the reason for the Dutch employer's federation to obtain more insight in what is happening with middle management in practice. Consequences of organisational changes for the tasks and behaviours of middle management were investigated. Results indicate that middle managers experienced a major shift in tasks, with an increase in tasks that concern employees. Also, organisational changes have lead to a focus on ‘soft' leadership behaviour, such as coaching. In practice however, the actual behaviour of middle managers could not be characterised as such. Furthermore, there is little evidence for the proclaimed effectiveness of coaching by middle management. The main implications for general managers are given here.