Wharton@Work

September 2024 | 

Managing to Fail? Why New Leaders Need Training

Managing to Fail? Why New Leaders Need Training

Navigating the leap from individual contributor to manager is one of the most challenging career transitions, yet the majority of new hires are placed in the role without adequate preparation. A staggering 60 percent of new managers report that they never received any training when they transitioned into their first leadership role, according to the Center for Creative Leadership. Not unexpectedly, global research and advisory firm Gartner confirms that 60 percent of new managers fail within the first 24 months, largely due to a lack of training in leadership and management skills.

Historically, companies invested heavily in in-house training programs, recognizing the long-term value of cultivating strong leaders from within. These programs were often tailored to the organization’s culture, values, and strategic goals, providing new hires with a clear path to leadership roles. Seasoned executives and managers would mentor emerging talent, ensuring a consistent and unified approach to leadership across the company. But in recent years, many companies have significantly reduced or even eliminated formal leadership-training programs, and remote work has left many new hires without in-person mentorship or even the opportunity to learn informally through observation of peers and superiors.

Those two developments mean a majority of new managers must navigate the complexities of the role on their own — and the 60 percent failure rate is a strong indication of just how difficult that navigation is, both for the managers and their organizations. Gallup estimates that the cost of poor management in the U.S. is between $960 billion and $1.2 trillion per year. Globally, the cost of poor management approaches $7 trillion — or 9 percent to 10 percent of the world's GDP.

Wharton professor and director of the school’s Center for Human Resources Peter Cappelli says expecting new hires to train themselves isn’t just costly and ineffective — it’s nearly impossible for the majority. “To be a good individual contributor, you must think about yourself, your performance, and how you can improve,” Cappelli explains. “But once you are a supervisor, you need to think about how to help other people do well. You can’t just expect people to make that kind of change on their own.”

The Learning Solution

A new Wharton program is designed specifically to address the needs of organizations and their new leaders. People Management for Emerging Leaders, which is directed by Cappelli, addresses every aspect of the role: practical, interpersonal, psychological, legal, and ethical. It is offered in a blended format of live online and self-paced sessions over six consecutive weeks that address every essential management skill, from hiring and project management to navigating legal issues and managing interpersonal conflicts. The program is designed to produce maximum, immediate impact for participants, leveraging peer coaching, role playing, simulations, and self-assessments to ensure that learning is not just theoretical but also experiential. Sessions are led by award-winning Wharton faculty who are pioneering the research and leading the dialogue on what it means to be a manager today.

For organizations looking for training for a cohort of new hires, Wharton offers group benefits. The advantage of group enrollment is twofold: it fosters team cohesion and enhances individual managerial skills. For the company, it means a more unified approach to leadership, with managers who are equally well-versed in the latest practical insights, tools, and skills. For individual managers, it provides an opportunity to develop their leadership in a collaborative environment, encouraging peer learning and networking within the organization’s cohort and the other program participants.

“Leaving management training to chance is not a strategy,” says Cappelli. “If you are concerned about cultivating a robust succession pipeline that can steer your organization into the future, you need a plan. Providing your new hires with comprehensive, robust management education will not only help you build that pipeline, but also underscore your commitment to long-term organizational resilience and prosperity.”