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Reframing Perceptions of Management: The Unsung Heroes Enabling Organizational Success

Jonathan H. Westover, PhD
2 days ago
4 min read

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Abstract: This article examines why competent management, despite being crucial for organizational success in today's complex business environment, remains persistently undervalued and misunderstood. Through an analysis of relevant research and practical examples, the authors explore the fundamental differences between management and technical skills, societal perceptions of managers, and the challenges in measuring management's intangible impacts. The article identifies how management contributions are often overshadowed by more easily quantifiable technical outputs, reinforced by unflattering cultural stereotypes of managers. It concludes by proposing specific organizational strategies to properly recognize, develop, and reward management competencies, thereby creating environments where managers can excel and drive organizational success in an increasingly volatile and uncertain business landscape.

In today's complex business world, competent management is more important than ever for organizational success. Yet management is often misunderstood and undervalued. Today we will explore why competent management is so crucial yet undervalued, through a discussion of relevant research as well as practical organizational examples. By understanding why competent management is undervalued, organizations can take steps to create environments where managers can truly excel and enable organizational success.

Management Skills vs. Technical Skills

Management requires a distinct set of competencies compared to technical skills (Kotter, 1990; Mintzberg, 1975). Technical skills relate to specific jobs or functions like accounting, engineering or production. Management skills focus more on coordinating people and resources to achieve organizational goals. Mintzberg (1975) categorized managerial roles into interpersonal, informational and decisional roles compared to technical or production roles.

Effective managers must balance interpersonal skills like motivating teams, resolving conflicts and communicating a vision, with informational skills like scanning the external environment, sharing knowledge across silos and decision-making under uncertainty. They coordinate complex systems of human interactions and relationships in a way that technical contributors alone cannot.

Yet management skills are often seen as "soft" compared to the "hard" skills of producing tangible outputs (Schein, 2004). Technical skills tend to be more visible and easily quantifiable through metrics like units produced or profits generated. Management impact is more diffused and intangible, relating to organizational culture, capabilities development and longer-term strategies (Kotter, 1990).

This intangibility means management contributions are harder to define and measure precisely. As a result, management abilities remain misunderstood and undervalued compared to technical skills, despite being equally mission-critical for organizational performance.

Perceptions of Managers in Society

Cultural perceptions of managers also contribute to management being undervalued. In many societies, popular stereotypes portray managers in an unflattering light. Managers are often viewed as bureaucratic, process-focused and "not getting their hands dirty" (Keller & Meaney, 2017). This contrasts with perceptions of individual contributors seen as the "real workers" driving outputs.

Such stereotypes stem partly from real systemic issues like dysfunctional corporate cultures that prioritize short-term financial results over long-term sustainability (Friedman & Carter, 2018). However, they also reflect a misunderstanding of management roles. Good managers focus on enabling teams to perform at their best through coaching, development and removing barriers - work that is less visible but critical for organizational success.

Perceptions shape how society evaluates the worth of management work. Managers tend to receive lower social status than technical roles like doctors, engineers or skilled trades despite managing complex organizational systems (Keller & Meaney, 2017). This societal underestimation of management skills then seeps into organizational cultures and rewards systems.

Recognizing Competent Management

To overcome the undervaluation of management, organizations must recognize and reward competent managers appropriately. Here are some specific actions that can help elevate management roles:

Clarify Management Competencies: Define clear competency frameworks outlining the skills required for different levels of management, from first-line to C-suite. Frameworks distinguish management skills from technical skills.
Focus Performance Evaluations: In performance reviews, properly assess and give weight to management competencies like developing others, collaboration, and enabling team performance rather than just individual outputs.
Track Intangible Impact Measures: Go beyond financial metrics to track how management drives intangible value like innovation, customer satisfaction, talent retention and capabilities development over time.
Provide Management Training: Offer targeted training and coaching to continuously build leadership skills. For example, many healthcare organizations now invest heavily in training clinical managers on people management in addition to their medical expertise.
Reward Management Roles Appropriately: Structure compensation systems to properly reward increasing levels of management responsibility on par with individual contributor roles requiring similar levels of education and problem-solving complexity.
Cultivate a "Management Matters" Culture: Communicate how managers enable organizational success to shift mindsets. For instance, technology companies publish case studies highlighting how strong managers lifted team and product performance to meet strategic goals.

By taking these steps to recognize competent management, organizations can shift perceptions internally and externally. This elevates management as a valued career path necessary for continuous organizational growth and resilience especially in today's VUCA world.

Conclusion

Competent management remains undervalued in society and organizations despite being equally crucial as technical skills for performance. Managers coordinate human and information systems in ways that individual contributors cannot. However, common stereotypes and a societal focus on tangible outputs have undermined perceptions of management importance.

Organizations must take proactive steps to overcome this undervaluation by clearly defining management competencies, tracking broader impact metrics, providing targeted training and rewarding management roles appropriately. Recognizing competent managers as mission-critical enables organizations to develop the durable leadership capacities needed to tackle complex challenges. By cultivating an internal "Management Matters" culture, organizations can shift mindsets to value the professionals who enable others to excel everyday. In doing so, companies optimize conditions for sustainable high performance into the future.

References

Friedman, H. H., & Carter, A. T. (2018). Understanding executive remuneration practices in dysfunctional corporate cultures. South African Journal of Business Management, 49(1), 1-11.
Keller, S., & Meaney, M. (2017). Attracting and retaining the right talent. McKinsey Quarterly, 3.
Kotter, J. P. (1990). A force for change: How leadership differs from management. Free Press.
Mintzberg, H. (1975). The manager's job: folklore and fact. Harvard business review, 53(4), 49-61.
Schein, E. H. (2004). Organizational culture and leadership (Vol. 2). John Wiley & Sons.

Jonathan H. Westover, PhD is Chief Academic & Learning Officer (HCI Academy); Chair/Professor, Organizational Leadership (UVU); OD Consultant (Human Capital Innovations). Read Jonathan Westover's executive profile here.

Suggested Citation: Westover, J. H. (2026). Reframing Perceptions of Management: The Unsung Heroes Enabling Organizational Success. Human Capital Leadership Review, 21(4). doi.org/10.70175/hclreview.2020.21.4.2