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Manager Enablement at the Skills Layer
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1.
Which of the following best describes your current role?
(Required.)
CHRO / Chief People Officer / Chief Talent Officer
VP of HR / VP of People / VP of Talent
Head of / Director of L&D or Talent Development
Head of / Director of Talent Acquisition
HR Business Partner (senior or lead)
Compensation & Rewards Leader
HRIS / People Analytics Leader
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2.
How many employees does your organization have globally?
(Required.)
1,000–4,999
5,000–9,999
10,000–24,999
25,000–49,999
50,000+
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3.
Which industry best describes your organization?
(Required.)
Financial Services / Banking / Insurance
Pharmaceuticals / Life Sciences / Healthcare
Technology / Software / Telecommunications
Energy / Utilities / Manufacturing
Professional Services / Consulting
Engineering / Construction / Infrastructure
Other (please specify)
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4.
Where is your organization primarily headquartered?
(Required.)
North America
Europe
Asia-Pacific
Middle East / Africa
Latin America
Section 1: Manager Role in Talent Decisions
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5.
In your organization, which of the following talent-related responsibilities do people managers currently own or share ownership of?
(Required.)
Setting individual development goals for direct reports
Conducting career development conversations
Identifying skill gaps within their team
Making internal mobility or promotion recommendations
Staffing project teams or stretch assignments
Participating in succession planning discussions
Approving or directing learning investments for their team
Onboarding new hires into team-specific capabilities
Matching employees to short-term projects, gigs, or cross-functional work
None of the above — managers are not expected to own these
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6.
How frequently do managers in your organization have structured conversations with direct reports about their career development or skill growth?
(Required.)
At least monthly
Quarterly
Twice a year (e.g., tied to performance review cycles)
Once a year or less
No structured cadence exists — it depends on the individual manager
We don't know
Section 2: Information Available to Managers
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7.
When managers need to understand the capabilities of their team members, what information sources do they typically rely on?
(Required.)
Their own personal knowledge of each team member
Performance review records
Résumés or hiring profiles
Self-reported skills profiles (e.g., employee-completed assessments)
A skills or competency management platform
Conversations with HR Business Partners
Learning management system (LMS) completion records
They don't actively seek this information
Workforce planning or strategic capability data
AI-assisted recommendations or talent insights tools
Other (please specify)
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8.
How would you describe the quality of skills-related information currently available to managers about their teams?
(Required.)
Managers have access to detailed, up-to-date skills data for their team members
Managers have some skills information, but it's incomplete or outdated
Managers have access to performance data but not skills-specific data
Managers rely primarily on informal knowledge — no formal skills data exists at their level
We're not sure what information managers currently have access to
Section 3: Manager Confidence and Capability
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9.
How confident are you that managers in your organization can accurately identify the most critical skill gaps and capability risks within their own teams?
(Required.)
Very confident — most managers can do this well
Somewhat confident — some managers can, others struggle
Neutral — we haven't assessed this
Not very confident — most managers lack the visibility to do this accurately
Not at all confident — this is a significant gap
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10.
Which of the following do managers in your organization struggle with most when it comes to developing their teams?
(Required.)
Knowing which skills each team member needs to develop
Having productive career conversations beyond "where do you see yourself in 5 years"
Connecting team members to relevant learning, projects, or stretch opportunities
Balancing development responsibilities with operational demands
Understanding how their team's capabilities align with future business needs
Retaining critical talent who have strong external opportunities
Navigating internal mobility — knowing when and how to support a team member's move
Assessing whether their team is ready for future business needs or transformation initiatives
Using available talent or skills data to make confident decisions
Identifying successors for critical roles within their team
Section 4: Organizational Investment in Manager Enablement
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11.
Has your organization invested in any of the following to help managers play a stronger role in talent development?
(Required.)
Formal manager training on career coaching or development conversations
Tools that recommend relevant learning, projects, mentors, or internal opportunities
Access to a platform or dashboard showing team skills and capabilities
Playbooks or guides for conducting skills-based development conversations
Dedicated HR Business Partner support for manager-level talent decisions
Communities of practice or peer learning among managers
Time explicitly allocated for managers to focus on development (e.g., protected hours)
None of the above
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12.
Who in your organization currently owns the responsibility for equipping managers to develop their teams' skills?
(Required.)
L&D / Talent Development team
HR Business Partners
People / Talent Operations
It's considered the manager's own responsibility — no specific function owns it
Multiple functions share ownership
No one clearly owns it
Other (please specify)
Section 5: Barriers
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13.
What are the biggest barriers preventing managers from playing a more effective role in developing their team's skills?
(Required.)
Managers don't have time — operational responsibilities take priority
Managers don't have visibility into what skills their team members have or need
Managers aren't trained or equipped for career development conversations
The organization hasn't defined what "good" looks like for manager-led development
Skills and development data exists, but it doesn't reach the manager layer
Managers don't see team development as part of their role
There's no clear connection between manager development efforts and business outcomes
HR owns talent development centrally — managers aren't expected to participate
Managers are overloaded by change, span of control, or competing priorities
Talent processes and systems are too fragmented for managers to use easily
Managers lack visibility into future skill needs, not just current ones
Other (please specify)
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14.
To what extent do you agree: "Managers in our organization have what they need to make informed decisions about their team's skill development."
(Required.)
Strongly agree
Agree
Somewhat agree
Neither agree nor disagree
Somewhat disagree
Disagree
Strongly disagree
Section 6: Impact and Outcomes
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15.
In your observation, is there a noticeable difference in employee engagement, retention, internal mobility, or team performance between teams whose managers are more active in development and those whose managers are less active?
(Required.)
Yes, a significant difference
Yes, a modest difference
We haven't observed or measured this
No noticeable difference
Our managers are relatively consistent — there isn't enough variation to compare
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16.
If managers had better visibility into their team's skills, capabilities, and development needs, which of the following do you think would be most impacted?
(Required.)
Quality of career development conversations
Manager ability to identify and close skill gaps proactively
Internal mobility and talent movement across the organization
Succession planning at the team and department level
Employee engagement and retention
Team productivity and execution against business goals
Organizational readiness to redeploy or reskill talent as business needs change
Workforce planning accuracy
I don't think better skills visibility at the manager level would significantly change outcomes
Section 7: Forward-Looking
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17.
Over the next 12 months, how much of a priority is improving manager enablement for talent, skills, and workforce decisions?
(Required.)
Top priority — active initiatives are underway or planned
Moderate priority — it's on the radar but competes with other initiatives
Low priority — other talent or business initiatives take precedence
Not a priority — our current model works well enough
Not sure — this hasn't been explicitly discussed
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18.
If your organization were to invest more in equipping managers for talent development, where would the investment most likely go?
(Required.)
Better tools or platforms that give managers skills visibility for their teams
Manager training and coaching programs focused on development conversations
Simplifying or integrating talent processes and systems used by managers
Better visibility into future skill needs and workforce demand
Clearer frameworks or standards for what managers are expected to do
Dedicated time or reduced operational load so managers can focus on development
Hiring or upskilling HRBPs to provide more direct manager support
We're unlikely to increase investment in this area
Section 8: Open-Ended
19.
In your own words, what is the single biggest thing your organization could do to help managers become more effective at developing their team's skills?