Nate Rees, Director of Training and Talent Development at Salary.com, joins us this episode to discuss a critical issue facing organizations today: the manager training crisis. Nate shares alarming data on the percentage of managers promoted without receiving any training and the costly impact this has on turnover and productivity. We explore why organizations fail to invest in new managers, how a raise is not a substitute for training, and low-budget/high-impact strategies HR leaders can implement immediately to better support their new managers.

[0:00 ] Introduction

• Welcome, Nate!


• Today’s Topic: The Manager Training Crisis

[6:25 ] What is the manager training crisis?

• 60% of new managers report receiving zero training for their role.


• New managers are split between their own quota and team development.

[16:31 ] Why aren’t more organizations investing in manager training?

• Untrained managers’ teams have a 260% higher turnover rate.


• Organizations will pay a premium for external experienced managers but won’t invest in developing their internal talent.

[22:29 ] How can HR leaders start to fix this?

• Create a zero-budget manager mentor program by leveraging your existing top managers.


• User simple conversation models like COIN (Context, Observation, Impact, Next).

[33:43 ] Closing

• Thanks for listening!

Quick Quote

“60% [of managers] say they never received any training when they transitioned into their first leadership role... we're throwing them at the deep end of the pool and not giving them any swimming lessons.”