Middle Management Is Your Most Powerful Branding Asset (video discussion)

As companies search for new ways to cut budgets and streamline workflows, middle management is taking fire. Nearly a third of all layoffs in recent years have been middle managers, and the trend doesn’t appear to be slowing. Microsoft just laid off 6,000 employees in an effort to reduce levels of management, and research firm Gartner predicts that by 2026, AI will have replaced 20 percent of middle management jobs.

This is bad news, and not just for those getting the boot. Middle managers are among a corporation’s most powerful branding tools for reaching and engaging internal and external stakeholders. Corporate consultants Jen Becker, Roberto Munoz, and Kateryna Byelova told Proven Media Solutions founder Dustin Siggins that middle managers:

• Stand in the gap between hands-off executives and frontline workers, keeping important information flowing in both directions;
• Translate leadership’s goals into concrete, actionable outcomes that keep employees engaged;
• Are best positioned to uncover compelling personal stories that the organization can share through owned media (newsletters, social media, and company awards) and earned media (features in regional and industry press); and
• Build the culture that directly impacts customers, driving sales and strengthening the brand’s reputation with external stakeholders.

Communicators can’t reduce all of the pressure on middle management, but we can facilitate their success by reducing task work and creating guidance for finding golden nuggets by:

• Translating C-Suite strategy and goals into customized messaging that will resonate with managers, empowering them to lead their teams in alignment with broader company goals, and
• Creating tools and processes that give managers the information they need without adding to their workload or micromanaging them.
• Providing easy access to the communications team so that great ideas are not held up by silos or bureaucracy.

A final point: With CEOs leaving their jobs with astonishing speed, middle managers are the ones left keeping frontline employees engaged—the same people who talk to customers every day. They are the company’s internal and external communications glue, providing stability and clarity in turbulent times.

So, are you a CEO trying to cut unnecessary costs, streamline processes, and create more growth? Empower your middle management. They’re your secret sauce to success.

Written by: Editor