The Importance of Legacy Management & Its Impact

Legacy is often associated with succession planning and leadership, but there is also a legacy that should be thought about every day and that is the one that is left with every single employee during their lifecycle in your organisation.

The role of a manager is traditionally paired with managing people and how they encourage their teams to deliver, but there is more involved. They are also your internal brand ambassadors. They are responsible on a daily basis for ensuring that the legacy they create for each team member is positive. They are responsible for showing that you live your values.

One of the definitions of legacy is:

“A legacy of an event or period of history is something which is a direct result of it and which continues to exist after it is over.”

The trigger or event is what will define how a manager or the company will be spoken of both internally and externally. Legacy is a synonym for reputational risk. This is why accountability is an important part of being a manager.

With the increase in employee activism, there is a real need for proactive legacy management in both word and deed. Heightened awareness around purpose-washing means that any aspirational goals you may have, need to be labelled as aspirational, but that these goals are incorporated in the management training programmes.

The danger in triggering a ‘complaints culture’ environment is that this will become the status quo. Research has shown that once the habit of complaining develops, it triggers a negative spiral, which can have long-lasting effect on positivity. A dissatisfied employee, will no longer be as productive, as engaged and ultimately as successful.

It is no longer enough for managers to purely focus on people, but also bring brand and value awareness to their management style to ensure that your organisation’s legacy is one you can be proud of.