The Hidden Cost of Unsupported Managers
A care home manager covers two vacant roles. She signs incident reports at 9 p.m. Her lunch is still untouched.
On paper she’s fine. On the floor you can feel the drag.
On the balance sheet, she’s a $40,000+ risk waiting to happen.
Managers do not quit overnight. They drift. Confidence dips. Small calls get parked. Teams feel it first.
Below is what that leak looks like, and how structured support stops it.
What the numbers miss
You probably count vacancies and backfill. You may track overtime. Few leaders quantify the load from decision lag and rework.
Across previous mentoring cohorts we saw two patterns that change this calculus fast:
85% of participants reported improved confidence in decision-making by program end.
78% implemented a new workflow or communication process within six weeks of starting.
Confidence moves first. Systems follow. Costs stabilise.
If you have not read it yet, Five Tiny Systems That Change Your Week shows the day-to-day habits that make this stick.
The quiet drain, decision debt and delay
Most managers carry decisions they are avoiding. A budget sign-off. A conversation that feels hard. A change request that needs a yes or a no.
A simple list titled “Decisions I am delaying” is often enough to unlock movement. Clear two items by Friday. You do not need more time. You need permission to decide.
Every postponed call slows rostering, procurement, and care plans. Multiplied across a service, it is a hidden cost with real impact.
Why training does not fix it
Compliance modules are necessary. They rarely change behaviour under pressure. People change when they have structure, visibility, and support.
Harvard Business Review argues culture shifts when you change systems and behaviour, not messaging. See To Change Company Culture, Focus on Systems.
Skill growth sticks when leaders practise in context, then reflect. See HBR’s 6 Essential Leadership Skills — and How to Develop Them.
Try this week, informed by that research
Team temperature check. Ask each person to list three things that energise them and three that frustrate them. Share themes. Act on one quick fix.
Adaptive one-to-ones. Swap “treat people how you like” for “treat people how they prefer.” Ask what support helps them decide faster.
Perspective check. Before a change, ask, what would night shift say, what would finance say. This improves decisions and reduces conflict.
Mentoring sits in this gap. It is not more content. It is cadence, accountability, and a clear place to think.
Mentoring as infrastructure
If you want managers to hold steady, give them systems that hold them.
Rhythm. A short Friday flow check. What moved easily. What jammed. Add a three-minute mind map on one jam to surface causes and options.
Clarity. A three-line update. What is happening. What could go wrong. What I need. Confirm preferred channels for critical stakeholders so updates land the first time.
Connection. Peer pods that meet briefly and focus on one real problem each. Close with a two-minute perspective swap to test blind spots.
Visibility. A decision-debt list that makes stuck calls explicit. Use the last ten minutes of your weekly to ask, what could we be doing better, then test one idea next week.
Energy. An energy-aware calendar that protects green blocks for hard calls, and uses yellow blocks for admin or recovery. Performance improves when leaders taper and recover.
Lead with less chaos. Join as a mentee or partner as an organisation.
When support pays for itself
You already spend to replace leaders. You already pay for drift in the months before they go. Structured mentoring is a smaller, predictable line that lowers both.
From previous cohorts we heard consistent themes. Fewer escalations once small systems were in place. Sharper decisions. Cleaner handovers after adopting the three-line update. Mentor satisfaction at a level that signals the relationship can hold real work.
For a practical frame, TEDx speaker Lars Sudmann explains thinking inside the box. Constraints can improve execution when you design smart routines inside them. See Great Leaders Transform Organisations by Thinking Inside the Box.
Use constraints as tools
Cap problem-solving to twenty minutes before you test a change.
Limit handovers to one page, use the three-line structure at the top.
Make every meeting either a decision meeting or a discussion meeting. Label it. Stick to it.
What this means for executives
Stop treating culture like a campaign. Audit the levers you control this month.
Hiring criteria. Promotion signals. Meeting defaults. What gets measured.
Change one lever per quarter. Model it publicly. Tie it to a small system managers can use by Monday. The signal is as important as the system.
Unsupported managers create costs you can feel but rarely see. Rework and slow restarts. Higher sick leave and compounding stress. Stalled reform tasks. Loss of organisational memory.
Supported managers create value you can measure. Sharper decisions. Clearer handovers. Better delegation. Early signals before issues escalate.
The question is not whether you can afford mentoring. It is whether you can afford unsupported managers
Ready to steady your leaders
Spots are limited. Secure your place or join the waitlist.
Prefer to mentor? Become a mentor today.
Small systems. Clearer weeks. Better care.
About the Author
Samantha Bowen is the Founding Director of Hyphae Network. She helps leaders in aged care, health, and community services build simple systems that hold under pressure. Her mentoring programs have supported more than 400 leaders across Australia. Her work focuses on practical structure, steady teams, and results you can feel on the floor.
FAQs
What is the hidden cost of unsupported managers?
It is the drag you feel before turnover shows up. Decision delays, rework, stop-start handovers, and issues that escalate because confidence is low. You pay for it in lost time and stalled priorities. The fix is structure and support that make clear decisions safer and faster.
What is decision debt?
It is the stack of calls a manager postpones. Budgets, rostering, approvals, feedback. The pile grows, speed drops, and risk rises. A short weekly list plus a plan to clear two items by Friday reduces the backlog and restores momentum without adding extra hours.
How is mentoring different from training?
Training delivers content. Mentoring builds cadence, reflection, and accountability in context. It pairs small systems with a sounding board so habits stick when work gets noisy. This aligns with HBR guidance to change systems and practise skills in real settings, not just in a classroom.
Which small systems should I start with?
Start with a Friday flow check and a three-line update. Add a simple decision-debt list for visibility. If you can, run a brief peer pod focused on one real problem. These are low cost, fast to trial, and improve clarity within a week.
What results have previous cohorts reported?
Across previous programs, 85 percent of participants reported improved confidence in decision-making by program end. 78 percent implemented a new workflow or communication process within six weeks. Leaders also described fewer escalations and cleaner handovers once small systems were in place.
Who is the Hyphae mentoring program for?
Managers and emerging leaders in aged care, health, and community services who want calmer weeks, clearer decisions, and practical support. If that is you, join the next cohort starting 3 March or join the waitlist if places are full.
How do I join or stay in the loop?
Secure your place here, Join the 2026 mentoring cohort. Prefer updates first? Subscribe to the newsletter.