Middle Managers Who Are Doing Well With Change: Helping and Hindering Factors

This research study was influenced by the fact that while change is synonymous with middle management, and there is much that has been written about how middle managers can help their organizations through change initiatives and how they might assist their staff in coping with changes, there is a surprising lack of research regarding what helps middle managers themselves to deal well with change. Informed by positive psychology, this study looked at middle managers who self-identified as doing well with the changes affecting their work. The Enhanced Critical Incident Technique (ECIT) was utilized for the purpose of investigating what helps, hinders, and may help middle managers to do well with changes that affect their work. Ten middle managers working in the financial sector in the Greater Vancouver and Toronto areas were interviewed. Participant responses generated 84 critical incidents, which were classified into 7 categories: perspective, relationships, work factors, experience, personal life, personal control, health and fitness. Implications for organizations, middle managers, and counselling practice are discussed