Stuck in the middle

“In the middle of every difficulty lies opportunity.”
Albert Einstein

The role of middle managers is dramatically changing. Before the pandemic, they mostly needed to focus on supporting their teams and making sure the job was getting done well and on time.

But post-pandemic, they’re having to shift their focus to employee engagement and retention. They’re being increasingly called upon to help instill a sense of purpose that Millennials and Generation Z workers want and need, coach and support them with emotional intelligence, and even help guide them in their career development.

According to a recent article in Chief Learning Officer, “This (shift in focus) has been a real challenge as middle managers are also contending with their own learning needs, shifting from being technical experts and doers to influencers and leaders, as well as the changing nature of work and employee culture.”

With organizations facing fewer resources and a tight economy, many middle managers are simply being left to fend for themselves, when it’s this crucial layer of middle management that is vital to the organization’s health and growth.

How can L&D leaders best support this critical role when middle managers are already facing these added responsibilities to their existing tasks at hand? And how can L&D help support those who are new to management and need to get up to speed quickly?

Enter 1st90, the award-winning, just-in-time mobile learning platform helping many of our clients succeed in quickly onboarding new managers with the leadership skills they need in their new role. The 1st90 platform offers many standard paths of development as well as custom paths designed to connect participants with each other and their managers while they activate new skills and habits in just 5-10 minutes a day.

1st90 is the winner of 2 key awards in talent development:

Brandon Hall Excellence in Technology Silver Award for Best Advance in Mobile Learning Technology (an award they also shared with Advantage and SAP) and The People Team Supplier of Excellence for Palo Alto Networks.

If you’d like to know more about the 1st90 platform, please contact us or talk to your Advantage partner. We’d be delighted to help set in motion a successful path of just-in-time learning for your middle managers.

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