A six-year study published by Harvard Business Review showed that middle managers and supervisors are given a bum rap.  They’re taken for granted...dismissed as boring foot soldiers whose only mission is to carry out orders from the top.  Yet, time and again, these individuals demonstrate their worth as powerful arbitrators and filters of your brand vision.    
 

Unfortunately, in most organizations, critical brand messages are delivered to employees via emails, intranets or “town hall” meetings run by the leadership team.  These are rarely inspirational or game-changing; there’s simply too much disconnect between the worlds of executives and grass-roots employees. 

When managers and supervisors are given a pivotal role in instilling the brand and sharing information up, down and across the organization, employee engagement soars.  Ideas flow freely.  Productivity improves.  And so do your top and bottom lines.  

Managers and supervisors are central to healthy, 360-degree communication systems.  Their success depends on maintaining strong relationships, solving problems and meeting expectations up, down and across the organization.  By placing managers at the center, everyone’s aligned with a common vision and purpose…and has a clear connection between his/her contributions and financial success. 

CASE IN POINT:

In 2001, The Toro Company began a long-term journey to engage its 5,300 global employees in Lean and continuous improvement.  My research on the role of middle managers and supervisors in communicating these initiatives helped drive sustainable changes in office and production processes.  In six years, the stock price rose 545 percent and profit-after-tax more than tripled. 

"Connie was a valuable contributor to many of Toro’s communication strategies. Externally, she had a strong sense of how to position Toro’s brand and story in a manner that resonated well with our many stakeholders – end customers, channel partners and investors. Internally, she helped create more effective communication forums between our various marketing departments so best practices could be elevated and embraced. Connie was also instrumental in scripting much of the messaging around key Corporate initiatives, helping our leadership to educate and motivate employees effectively to reach common goals."  
-- Michael J. Happe, Vice President Commercial Business, The Toro Company