New report reveals managers face an imbalance in their work
Chief human resources officers (CHROs) have been advised to "reset" objectivity among managers as new research reveals that they face an imbalance between their goals and employee relationships.
A new report from Gartner is calling on CHROs to lead the pivot to a "performance-first management" among managers, where business outcomes and productivity are the focus of manager-employee relationships.
Part of this pivot is "resetting manager objectivity," where the focus is more grounded in the collective mission of the team rather than individual employees.
"This is not about devaluing individual relationships, but about aligning them with the performance-first management framework," Gartner said.
"To build more objective managers, CHROs need to be prepared to offer holistic training, tools, and consistent reinforcement to help managers make business-first decisions as they manage their teams."
Managers face imbalance
Gartner's suggestion comes amid an imbalance faced by managers in their roles, as performance and productivity pull ahead of employee engagement and retention in the post-pandemic executive agendas.
"Today, business leaders are contending with a persistently fragile economy, the disruptive integration of GenAI and rising geopolitical volatility," said Tess Lawrence, principal analyst in the Gartner HR practice, in a statement.
"As a result, performance and productivity have moved ahead of engagement and retention as top workforce priorities."
But managers are struggling with this shift. According to Gartner, 66% of managers believe their primary responsibility is managing people over driving progress towards organisational goals.
More than half of managers (62%) also said they feel obligated to protect their teams, and another 45% even admitted that they made decisions that focused on employee interests over those of the business.
Expect, accept some dissatisfaction
Gartner's suggestion to "reset" manager objectivity comes as global employee engagement drops for the second consecutive year.
Data from Gallup showed that employee engagement slid to 20% in 2025, with managers being the strongest driver of the decrease.
Gartner, however, pointed out that some employee dissatisfaction should be expected and accepted amid major shifts in the workplace.
"CHROs can help reset expectations by acknowledging that some employee dissatisfaction is inevitable during periods of significant change," Gartner said.
"Instead of trying to resolve personal discontent, managers are encouraged to focus on factors they can control: aligning work with employee interests, reinforcing perceptions of fairness, helping teams prioritise, and recognising contributions."
Gartner further suggested that it is important to re-establish management fundamentals in guiding managers to a performance-first strategy.
"To bridge this gap, progressive organisations are shifting manager selection and training toward the tactical and operational components of the managerial role," it said.
"Though these may vary by industry and function, core performance-first management fundamentals should include things like: dynamic resource allocation, bandwidth management, AI integration, and career facilitation."
