• An Office
• Tools
  • Overview
  • Articles for Companies
  • Articles for Candidates

• Approach
• Methods
• Expertise
• Network
  • Overview
  • Our History
• Solutions
  • Overview
  • Permanent Placement
  • Large-Scale Recruitment Solutions
  • Ancillary Services

MRINetwork™ Study Finds Middle Management Layer Highly Valued, Well Defined and Critical To the Success of the Company

HR Professionals Identify Three-Month Window to Fill a Middle Management Void Before Larger Issues Arise Middle Managers Seen as Less Innovative Than Senior Team

Windsor, 30 November 2005—Middle managers are critical to the success of a company, according to a new study from MRINetwork™, one of the world's largest search and recruitment organisations. The study, which comprised 200 HR directors or senior executives in the United Kingdom and 200 HR directors or senior executives in the United States, also evaluated where middle managers made the most impact on a business, with customer satisfaction, company morale, and hiring and team building ranking the highest.

According to the study, 64 per cent of UK respondents said that middle managers are critical to the success of a company, compared with 79 per cent of US respondents.

Additionally, the survey evaluated where middle managers provide the most value to an organisation. In the UK, respondents named company morale (73 per cent) as the most important function, with customer satisfaction (68 per cent), hiring and team building (63 per cent) and sales and productivity (58 per cent) following close behind. Comparatively, respondents in the US cited customer satisfaction (74 per cent), company morale (73 per cent), hiring and team building (66 percent) and implementation of a CEO's vision (66 per cent) as the most critical job functions. In both countries, innovation trailed behind with only 38 per cent and 42 per cent in the UK and US respectively naming it as a critical job function.

"Middle management represents the beating heart of today's successful companies," said Steve Mills, senior vice president of operations of MRINetwork. "For a business to succeed in today's market, companies must be prepared to make a strong investment in hiring and supporting critical impact players in the mid-management layer of their organisations. But conversely, middle managers still have some work to do to shake the baggage that they are not as innovative as their senior peers. They are clearly innovative, but they need to market this innovation in a more effective manner to ensure their accomplishments are being recognised."

Middle Management's Importance to Organisation

Additionally, the survey found that in the UK and US a void in middle management can only exist for less than three months before it begins to negatively impact morale and employees' ability to perform their daily jobs. Therefore it is critical that hiring managers take immediate steps to fulfill vacancies in this layer before it impacts the rest of the company.

"While leading companies know they need to fill a void in a timely manner, the 'three-month' timeframe has never been documented and should serve as a significant wake-up call to business leaders," added Mills. "In many companies the middle management layer serves as the keystone that links senior management with junior team members. When that link is interrupted, the repercussions are sudden and far-reaching."

Opinion Research Corporation conducted telephone interviews with 200 Human Resource Directors or Senior Executives in the United Kingdom and 200 Human Resource Directors or Senior Executives in the United States. The interviews took place in the in the UK between July 14 and August 12, 2005 and in the US between July 14 and August 5, 2005. Error of margin for each sample of 200 is plus or minus seven percentage points at a 95 per cent confidence level.

About MRINetwork

Management Recruiters International, Inc. (MRI), trading as MRINetwork (www.MRINetwork.com) is one of the world's largest search and recruitment organisations with nearly 1,100 offices worldwide in over 35 countries. MRI is a subsidiary of staffing and outsourcing leader CDI Corp. (NYSE: CDI), a global provider of engineering and information technology outsource solutions and professional staffing (www.cdicorp.com).