Front line managers are spending as little as 25% of their time on effective management activities

Dublin, March 27, 2015 – A new study by the BearingPoint Institute, the research arm of management and technology consultancy BearingPoint, has found that front-line managers are spending as little as 25% of their time managing, as opposed to the optimum 60% plus regarded as leading practice.

The study, which analysed 10,000 front-line managers across a broad range of productivity improvement programmes at 40 blue-chip companies, discovered that on average, 35% of managers’ time was spent on administrative tasks. This led to ineffieciencies and a lack of productivity in other, more vital areas of the business.

According to the study’s findings, the majority of today’s front-line managers are promoted based on prior performance in non-managerial roles and not necessarily because they have the appropriate attributes and skills to be a successful manager.

Brendan Cahill, BearingPoint Partner and author of the study, believes many organisations are missing a significant opportunity to boost performance in failing to create ‘active’ managers:

“Successful businesses are those that optimise productivity. Front-line managers actively managing have the potential to unlock substantial, recurring operational improvements within their teams. This is an opportunity that is largely ignored in most organisations.

“Active management is the coaching, guidance and support of staff in the effective performance of their day-to-day roles. In our study, we discovered that transforming under-performing managers into active managers typically achieves performance gains of up to 30% within teams in a matter of months,” said Mr Cahill.

“The challenges that private and public sector organisations in Ireland have faced over the last number of years in terms of driving efficiencies, savings and operational improvements have been significant,” added Andrew Montgomery, Partner and Head of Public Services at BearingPoint Ireland.

“From a public sector perspective, overall staff numbers have been reduced by approximately 10% since 2008. The focus should now be on ensuring that productivity can be maximised and that staff are equipped with the necessary skills and competencies required to manage and deliver today’s public services.

“By training front-line public sector managers to perform their duties more effectively there is significant potential to free up time and resources that can be allocated elsewhere such as investment in new and existing services,” said Mr Montgomery

For further information: inst.be/005CML.

About the BearingPoint Institute

Founded in 2009, the BearingPoint Institute is an incisive, authoritative voice on business-critical topics, bringing together the finest minds from both within and outside the BearingPoint organization. We strive to:

• Advise business leaders to understand the evolution of the global economy at a deeper level
• Explore new thinking, going beyond straightforward “thought leadership”
• Propose new points of view about strategy and organizational change, and stimulate debate

This is achieved by offering practical, real-world advice from:

• A leadership team composed of senior BearingPoint Partners, representing geographical diversity and a wealth of capabilities
• An independent Advisory Board formed by recognized business leaders and academics
• Studies made by experts illustrated with real-life examples

About BearingPoint

BearingPoint consultants understand that the world of business changes constantly and that the resulting complexities demand intelligent and adaptive solutions. Our clients, whether in commercial or financial industries or in government, experience real results when they work with us. We combine industry, operational and technology skills with relevant proprietary and other assets in order to tailor solutions for each client’s individual challenges. This adaptive approach is at the heart of our culture and has led to long-standing relationships with many of the world’s leading companies and organisations. Our global consulting network of 9,700 people serves clients in more than 70 countries and engages with them for measurable results and long-lasting success.

For more information, please visit: www.bearingpoint.com