Summary of the digital transformation and middle managers’ leadership skills and behavior: a group concept mapping approach study.
By Maartje Henderikx and Jol Stoffers - Frontiers in Psychology
This study, with the aim to test theory in practice, used group concept mapping to develop a comprehensive conceptualization of middle managers’ leadership behaviors concerning digital transformation as a form of radical change. Participants were professionals in the largest public organization in the Netherlands (a police organization) who were dealing with digital transformation in their own practice and who enrolled in an education program on leadership and intelligence. Based on 94 unique statements, the participant-driven results revealed six thematically coherent clusters representing leadership skills and behaviors regarding improvement and results, digital technologies, cooperation, the self, change and ambivalence, and others. The stress value of 0.2234 indicated a good fit. Further analysis showed that clusters containing soft skills and people-oriented behaviors were considered the most important. These results can serve as input to support leadership development programs for middle managers to develop themselves into people-oriented, empowering leaders who can adapt their leadership approaches to fit and support change in general and technology-driven change in particular. Ultimately this will benefit their and their employees’ overall well-being at work. This study is the first to investigate middle managers’ leadership skills and behaviors in a large public organization that is entirely participant-driven.
Reflection on the outcomes
Using group concept mapping, this study identified which leadership skills and behaviors are important to middle managers in the context of ongoing digitalization. Multiple studies suggest that middle managers in larger public organizations must focus on employees by supporting them through (digital) change (e.g., Petry, 2018; Henderikx and Stoffers, 2022). Since most leadership research does not assess middle managers, this study adds to the literature by assessing conceptions of middle managers’ leadership skills and behaviors in relation to digital transformation to deepen understanding of this topic and supplement extant leadership studies. In response to this gap in the literature, the objective was to identify which leadership skills and behaviors are considered necessary during ongoing digitalization, according to middle managers, the management layer that is essential to leading and supporting organizational change (Vial, 2019; Reynders et al., 2020).
The participant-driven results revealed six very to reasonably thematically coherent clusters. These clusters represent a broad array of leadership skills and behaviors primarily based on the statements generated and sorted by the participants of the study. The clusters cover leadership skills and behaviors regarding improvement and results, digital technologies, cooperation, self, change and ambivalence, and others. Subsequent ratings demonstrated that participants considered integrity, trust, and empowering people as the most important skills and behaviors. Humbleness, having knowledge of digital tools/assets/software/hardware, and investing in external cooperation regarding enforcement in digital environments were considered the least important. No skill or behavior was rated unimportant (less than 3 on a 1 to 5 point Likert scale). Connecting this finding to cluster levels, the middle managers rated the clusters of self and others as most important and digital technologies and improvement and results as least important.
It is surprising that the digital technologies cluster was rated least important, considering that middle managers are commonly tasked with facilitating digitalization and leading and managing a digitally transformed organization, as noted by Klein (2020) and Reynders et al. (2020). One explanation is that participants were middle managers who worked in a large (public) organization, in which, due to its size, middle managers are typically concerned with overseeing day-to-day operations. Consequently, they often delegate duties of specific expertise to specialized departments equipped with the necessary skills to implement new digital technologies in business processes (e.g., technical; Vaccaro et al., 2012). It is, therefore, less vital for middle managers working in large organizations to acquire particularly hard skills regarding digital technologies as it enables them to concentrate on their primary responsibilities while ensuring the organization keeps pace with digital advancements. This may be why they consider such skills less important compared to other skills and behaviors. Nonetheless, middle managers still play a vital role in digital transformation, bridging technical experts and the operational staff (Giauque, 2015). They are responsible for translating the implications of digital changes into actionable steps and guiding their teams through these transitions.
Clusters that contained soft skills, such as interactions that enable people-oriented skills and behaviors, were considered the most important. These results align with those from Henderikx and Stoffers (2022), who argue the need for soft skills as they are inherently human and complex to replicate through technological advancements and automation. Technology does not (yet) encompass human-like emotions, values or perspectives, which are at the heart of soft skills (Badurdeen et al., 2010; Bauer et al., 2018). For example, increasingly working with digital tools and working remotely has made soft skills such as empathy and clear communication vital in fostering effective collaboration (e.g., Cortellazzo et al., 2019; Klus and Müller, 2020). Also, digital transformation often involves frequent changes, the implementation of new technologies, and shifting priorities. Soft skills like adaptability and flexibility make it possible to embrace these changes, quickly learn new tools and processes, and navigate through uncertainty (e.g., Jakubik and Berazhny, 2017). Furthermore, as organizations undergo digital transformation, strong, soft skills to inspire and motivate employees and teams are essential (e.g., Ready et al., 2020). Overall, soft people-oriented skills are essential for building effective relationships, adapting to change, fostering innovation, and leading successful digital initiatives and teams (e.g., Lista et al., 2022). Therefore, the importance of nurturing and developing these soft skills alongside technological advancements should be recognized. Overall, we can conclude that what the middle managers in this study regard as relevant leadership behavior and skills is consistent with the findings of the literature study it is built on as well as consistent with other studies in this direction, for instance, from Jakubik and Berazhny (2017), Klus and Müller (2020), and Ready et al. (2020).
Enabling middle managers to develop themselves as people-oriented, technically minded, empowering leaders who can adapt their leadership to fit with changing (digital) circumstances is therefore essential. Especially as leadership behavior, precisely behavior related to soft skills positively impacts employee well-being (e.g., Inceoglu et al., 2018; Dong and Yan, 2022), even more so with the current increase of remote working (Caniëls, 2023). The development of soft skills in middle managers can be seamlessly incorporated into daily operations through the novel use of simulations related to social issues alongside habitual practice and reinforcement in real-life scenarios. These simulations can concurrently cultivate both soft skills—emphasizing societal and human aspects—and hard skills—focusing on technical and conceptual facets (Poisson-de Haro and Turgut, 2012). Managers should apply active listening, empathy, and effective communication during daily interactions, with simulations offering a safe environment for practice. A culture encouraging feedback and reflection can boost continuous learning (Tripathy, 2020). The necessity for such comprehensive skills development is paramount given middle managers’ crucial role, as it enhances team cohesion, improves decision-making, and ultimately propels organizational success.
Conclusion
By using the group concept mapping method we were able to gain insight into which leadership skills and behaviors middle managers in practice consider important during ongoing digitalization. The results revealed six clusters covering an array of leadership skills and behaviors, with soft people-oriented skills being considered the most important. In combination with a growing number of—predominantly theoretical—studies on this topic, this participant-driven study, deepens our understanding of middle managers’ leadership skills and behaviors in relation to digital transformation and supplements extant leadership research on radical change in general. It also highlights the need for middle managers to develop these skills for instance, via a leadership development program. An effective leadership development program should prioritize soft skills development, focusing on teamwork, collaboration, communication skills, and individual personalities but also include understanding the dynamic digital landscape.
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