ANSWER THE QUESTION - Why is it hard to be a Connector Manager? (ANSWER THIS QUESTION ACCURATELY AFTER READING THE BELOW CASE CAREFULLY)

CASE -

Inautopiancorporateworld,managerslavish a constantstream of feedbackontheir direct reports. This is necessary, the thinking goes, becauseorganizationsandresponsibilities are changingrapidly, requiring employeesto constantly upgrade theirskills. Indeed, thedesire for frequentdiscussions about development is onereasonmanycompaniesaremovingawayfrom annual performancereviews: Ayearlyconversationisn'tenough.

In the real world, though, constantcoaching is rare. Managersface too manydemands and too much time pressure,andworkingwithsubordinatestodevelopskillstends toslip to the bottom of the to-do list.One survey of HR leaders found thatthey expectmanagerstospend36%oftheirtimedeveloping subordinates,but a survey ofmanagers showed that the actualamount averagesjust9%andeventhatmaysoundunrealisticallyhightomanydirectreports.

It turns out that 9% shouldn'tbealarming,however,becausewhenitcomestocoaching,moreisn'tnecessarilybetter.

To understandhow managers can betterjobofprovidingthecoachingand development up-and-coming talent needs, researchersat Gartner surveyed 7,300 employeesand managers across a variety ofindustries;theyfollowedupbyinterviewingmorethan100HRexecutivesandsurveying another 225. Theirfocus: What are the best managers doing to develop employeesintoday'sbusyworkenvironment?

Aftercoding90variables,theresearchersidentifiedfourdistinctcoachingprofiles:

Teacher Managerscoach employeesonthebasisoftheirownknowledgeandexperience,providingadvice-oriented

feedback and personally directingdevelopment. Many have expertiseintechnicalfieldsandspentyearsas

individualcontributorsbeforeworkingtheirwayintomanagerialroles.

Always-onManagersprovidecontinualcoaching, stay on top of employees'development,andgivefeedbackacross

a range of skills. Their behaviorscloselyalignwithwhatHRprofessionalstypicallyidealize.Thesemanagersmayappearto

bethemostdedicatedofthefourtypestoupgradingtheir employees' skillstheytreatitasadailypartoftheirjob.

Connector Managersgive targetedfeedback in their areasof expertise;otherwise,theyconnectemployeeswith

others on the team or elsewhere in theorganizationwhoarebettersuitedtothe

task.Theyspendmoretimethantheotherthreetypesassessingtheskills,needs,

andinterestsoftheiremployees,andtheyrecognizethatmanyskillsarebesttaughtbypeopleotherthanthemselves.

CheerleaderManagerstakeahands-offapproach, delivering positivefeedbackandputtingemployeesinchargeoftheir

own development. They are available andsupportive, but they aren't as proactive astheothertypesofmanagerswhenitcomes

todevelopingemployees'skills.

The four typesare more or lessevenlydistributedwithinorganizations,

regardlessofindustry.Themostcommontype,Cheerleaders,accountsfor29%

of managers, while the least common,Teachers,accountsfor22%.Therevelationsintheresearchrelatenottotheprevalence

ofthevariousstylesbuttotheimpacteachhasonemployeeperformance.

The first surprise:Whether a manager spends36%or9%ofhertimeonemployee developmentdoesn'tseemtomatter."Thereis very little correlation between time spentcoachingandemployeeperformance,"

says Jaime Roca, oneof Gartner's practiceleadersforhumanresources."It'slessaboutthequantityandmoreaboutthequality."

Thesecondsurprise:ThosehypervigilantAlways-on Managersare doing more harm thangood."Wethoughtthatcategorywould

perform the best, so this reallysurprisedus,"Rocasays.Infact,employeescoachedbyAlways-onManagersperformedworse

thanthosecoachedbytheothertypesandwere the only category whose performancediminishedasaresultofcoaching.

The researchers identifiedthree mainreasons for Always-onManagers' negativeeffectonperformance.First,althoughthese

managersbelievethatmorecoachingisbetter,thecontinualstreamoffeedback

theyoffer can be overwhelming and detrimental.(The Gartner team compares themtoso-calledhelicopterparents,whose

closeoversighthamperschildren'sabilitytodevelop independence.)Second, because theyspendlesstimeassessingwhatskills

employeesneedtoupgrade,theytendtocoach on topics that are lessrelevant to employees'realneeds.Third,theyareso

focused on personally coaching their employeesthattheyoftenfailtorecognize

thelimitsoftheirownexpertise,sotheymaytry to teachskills they haven't sufficiently masteredthemselves."Thatlastoneisa

killerthe manager doesn't actuallyknow thesolutiontowhatevertheproblemis,andhe'sessentiallywingingitandproviding

misguidedinformation,"Rocasays.

Whentheresearchersdovedeepintotheconnectionbetweencoachingstyle

and employee performance, they found aclearwinner:Connectors.Theemployeesofthesemanagersarethreetimesaslikelyas

subordinatesoftheothertypestobehighperformers.

To understand how Connectors work,consider this analogy from the world ofsports:Aprofessionaltennisplayer'scoach

may bethe most important voice guidingthe player's development, but she maybringinotherexpertsforstrengthtraining,

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