Ambitious Employees, Underprepared Managers: A Growing Organizational Risk

Employees remain optimistic about their careers and eager to build new skills. The challenge is not a lack of motivation. It is whether organizations have the systems, manager capability, and development opportunities needed to support that ambition.

The research found that many employees do not receive consistent guidance, feedback, or development support from their managers. At the same time, many managers are promoted into leadership roles without the preparation they need to coach others, communicate expectations, or support performance.

This gap creates a growing risk for organizations. When managers are underprepared, employee engagement, productivity, retention, and leadership pipelines can all suffer.

What the Research Found

The 2026 CMC-AMA Global Talent Development Study gathered perspectives from more than 1,000 employees and managers across industries and regions.

Key findings include:

• Employees are highly motivated to grow and develop professionally.
• Only 27% of respondents said their managers were highly effective.
• 66% reported that they did not receive frequent support, guidance, or feedback from managers.
• 51% said they had been promoted into people management without formal leadership training.
• Communication, leadership, critical thinking, and prioritization remain significant skill gaps.
• Only 30% reported having sufficient opportunities to develop new skills.

Together, these findings point to a clear issue. Employees want to develop, but many organizations have not yet built the manager capability, learning systems, or workplace support needed to turn that motivation into stronger performance.

Why Manager Readiness Matters

Today’s managers are expected to do much more than supervise work. They are asked to coach employees, clarify priorities, give feedback, navigate change, support development, and strengthen team performance.

Yet many are learning how to lead after they have already stepped into the role.

Without the right preparation, managers may spend more time resolving confusion, performance issues, and misalignment. This can lead to inconsistent employee experiences, lower confidence, weaker engagement, and higher turnover.

Preparing managers before and after they move into leadership roles helps organizations build stronger teams and more sustainable leadership pipelines.

Human Skills Are Becoming More Important

As AI and automation reshape work, the research suggests that human capabilities are becoming increasingly important.

These capabilities include:

• Communicating clearly
• Making decisions with limited information
• Coaching and giving feedback
• Managing priorities
• Working effectively with others
• Navigating difficult conversations
• Leading through ambiguity and change

These capabilities affect how work gets done every day. They shape collaboration, customer relationships, decision making, innovation, and organizational adaptability.

Learning Must Continue Beyond the Classroom

Formal learning provides an important foundation, but lasting development happens when new skills are applied and reinforced at work.

Organizations can strengthen learning by combining training with:

• Coaching and feedback
• On-the-job practice
• Stretch assignments
• Peer learning
• Reflection
• Ongoing performance conversations
• Manager support

When learning becomes part of daily work, employees are more likely to use new skills, retain what they learn, and see development as relevant to their roles.

What Organizations Can Do

The report outlines several practical ways organizations can close the gap between employee ambition and manager readiness:

1. Build on employees’ motivation to grow.
2. Strengthen manager communication, coaching, and feedback skills.
3. Reinforce formal learning through daily practice.
4. Invest in foundational human capabilities.
5. Prepare first-time managers before they step into the role.
6. Position managers as coaches, capability builders, and facilitators of performance.

The opportunity is clear. Employees are ready to develop. Organizations that create the right support around them will be better positioned to improve performance, retain talent, and build stronger leadership capability.