Managers have more influence on employee engagement than almost anything else inside your company. According to Gallup, they account for 70 percent of the variance in how engaged employees feel at work. That’s a staggering amount of impact concentrated in one role

And yet, most companies set managers up to fail. Most companies will carefully onboard a brand-new hire. They’ll train them on systems, expectations, workflows, and success metrics. They’ll ease them into the role.

But when an existing employee gets promoted into management, which is essentially a new role with totally different responsibilities from an individual contributor, companies often skip that step.

High-performing contributors are promoted, given a team, and then, more often than we’d like to admit, they’re expected to figure it out as they go.

If managers are the biggest driver of engagement, then supporting those managers is one of the highest-leverage investments a company can make.

What Google learned when they tried to eliminate managers

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Google once wondered if it even needed managers. The founders felt bureaucracy simply added drag to a company that relied on agility and innovation. So, they tried cutting out management entirely.

It didn’t work.

Too many employees started going directly to the founders. They asked for help with expense reports, team conflicts, prioritization. All stuff that squelched Larry Page and Sergey Brin’s ability to steer the fledgling startup. 

It became obvious: someone had to make decisions, provide clarity, and connect the dots between strategy and execution.

So, Page and Brin went back to the drawing board. What they launched was Project Oxygen, a multiyear research project into what makes effective managers who reduce turnover and improve team performance.

Google’s Project Oxygen surfaced eight behaviors that showed up again and again in their most effective managers:

• Is a good coach
• Empowers the team and avoids micromanaging
• Shows interest in team members’ success and well-being
• Is productive and results-oriented
• Communicates well—listens and shares information
• Supports career development
• Provides clear vision and strategy
• Has the technical skills to support the team

These aren’t radical ideas. Most managers already want to do all of these things. But wanting to coach someone, and having the time tools and support to do it, are different things.

That’s where the company’s support of managers comes in.

Providing the support managers need

Most managers struggle because the job is hard, and the support around them is usually thin.

Imagine a frontline sales manager with eight direct reports. They're juggling revenue targets, onboarding new hires, and trying to keep morale up during a tough quarter. They know recognition matters (it was a point of emphasis in your company’s new manager onboarding and training.) But, they’ve got no budget, no process, and no time to make it meaningful. 

So, maybe they send a Slack message. Maybe they mention an employee win in passing during the weekly standup. It’s a nice gesture, but probably not enough to stick in an employee’s mind.

Now, picture the same manager with a little room to move thanks to a small budget, a simple tool, and the green light to use both. 

At the end of the week, they wrap the team meeting, shout out a few people who crushed it, and send over a small reward. It’s just $25 and a quick note saying what it was for, but it is more than an offhand gesture. That’s much more likely to stick with the team.

If you want managers to recognize results, don’t make it a quarterly ceremony. Recognition works best when it’s fast, specific, and tied to the moment.

Building team connection works the same way. You don’t need a culture committee. You just need to give managers the budget and freedom to celebrate the small stuff like birthdays, work anniversaries, and client wins.

Career growth is harder, but just as critical. A manager can’t support someone’s path forward if they don’t have the tools to make anything happen. That means giving them access to training budgets, a clear view into promotion tracks, and stretch assignments that don’t require a VP’s blessing.

Give your managers the training (and tools) for success

Most managers don’t get much training. They’re promoted into a new role, handed a team, and expected to figure it out.

But even if you fix that with onboarding flows, workshops, and a handbook, it’s not enough.

For managers to lead well, they need the tools and systems to do it right. That includes both recognition and career development budgets and processes that help them coach and reward their people without layers of bureaucracy.

Giftly gives managers a way to recognize effort in the moment without extra approvals, confusing systems, or awkward workflows. 

It’s fast, personal, and branded to feel like it came from your company, not a third-party rewards engine. Whether they’re celebrating a big team win or just calling out consistent effort, managers can use Giftly to build trust, reinforce impact, and keep motivation high.

Want to find out if Giftly is one of the tools that will help your managers drive employee engagement? Let’s talk.