Which Manager Should Follow You Into 2027?

Ask almost any Nigerian business owner what they want from their managers, and the answer sounds the same. They want a company that can run without them standing over every decision. They want managers who can calm an angry client, settle a quarrel between supervisors, and close the month without calling them at 11 p.m.

But we need to ask the uncomfortable questions.

What if your best manager is the reason your best intern wants to resign? What happens when your highest-selling manager keeps insulting the HR officer, and everybody pretends not to hear? What do you do when the loyal staff member who has been with you for 13 years is found inflating payment records? These managers exist in more Nigerian businesses than most owners want to admit. Each of these managers may bring results to the business, and each may also cost it something that never shows up on the sales report.

As this year closes, every owner has to decide which managers will walk into 2027 with them.

Why 2027 Leaves Little Room for Error

Since the middle of 2023, Nigerian businesses have absorbed one shock after another. In May 2023, a litre of petrol sold for under ₦200 at most filling stations. Three years later, in October 2026, NNPC stations in Abuja sold petrol at between ₦1,370 and ₦1,405 a litre, an increase of more than 600 percent. Every business with a generator or a delivery van has felt it.

The naira has also fallen sharply. In early 2023, one dollar cost about ₦460 at the official window. This month it costs between about ₦1,330 and ₦1,370. Software, imported equipment and foreign suppliers now cost close to three times as much in naira, which has made trading across borders far harder for smaller companies. The same pressure shows up in rent, the cost of borrowing and many other parts of business.

As a business owner, all of this means every naira you pay to a manager now has to work harder. A manager who drives away good staff, bullies colleagues or leaks money has always been a problem. In 2027, many businesses simply cannot afford to keep one.

Why Managers Need a Different Kind of Appraisal

A performance appraisal is a structured review of how well a person has done their job over a period. We advise our clients to do this every quarter (every three months) and combine the results into a yearly review. A manager's appraisal has to go further, because a manager's real output includes the work and wellbeing of the people under them.

A manager can hit every target while three good officers quietly update their CVs. So ask two questions about every manager. What did this person deliver this year? And what did it cost the business to get it?

The second question takes some digging:

Look at who left. Check resignations in each manager's unit and read the exit interviews. If good people keep leaving one team, the pattern is telling you something.
Run 360-degree feedback. This is a review where a manager is rated by their own boss, their peers and the people who report to them, usually through short anonymous forms. Staff will tell a form what they will never tell the owner.
Check the money trail. Compare payment records, approvals and expenses against invoices and bank statements, especially in units that handle cash.
Have an honest conversation. Sit with each manager, share what you found and hear their side before you decide anything.

The Managers You Will Find

Most managers fall into a few familiar patterns, and each calls for one of three responses: train, let go, or hold close.

The Talent Repellent

This manager is skilled and delivers results, but nobody under them grows or stays. Interns leave early, and new hires resign before confirmation. Usually they were promoted for being good at the work and never taught to lead people. We advise you to put this manager through a coaching programme on managing people, then follow up with a clear deadline.

The Star Bully

This manager tops the sales chart and treats that position as a licence to insult colleagues, including HR. We advise you to let your staff handbook take effect. Verbal abuse is a type of workplace misconduct with real consequences, irrespective of who is doing it. Give one final written warning, pair it with coaching and set a short review period. If the abuse continues, let them go, because every staff member watching will learn whether results buy immunity in your company.

The Trusted Insider Who Took Money

Long service builds trust, and trust often means fewer checks. When a manager of many years inflates payment records, letting them go feels personal, yet integrity is one thing training cannot install. Investigate properly, document everything and let them go.

The Office Politician

This manager spends more energy on alliances than on work. They gossip about other managers, form camps within the team and quietly block projects they did not start. The damage spreads beyond their own unit, because other managers start protecting themselves instead of cooperating. We advise you to give one clear warning about the conduct. If the camps and sabotage continue, let them go.

The Tribal Favourite

This manager hires, promotes and protects people from their own ethnic group, church, mosque or hometown. Staff from other backgrounds notice quickly and stop trying, because they can see the pattern. In a country as diverse as Nigeria, this pattern divides a team faster than almost anything else, and it can expose the business to discrimination complaints. Where it is unconscious, training and transparent hiring rules can correct it. Where it continues after correction, the manager has to go.

The Bottleneck

Nothing moves unless this type of manager touches it. They do not delegate, or have never tried it before, so the team stalls whenever they travel or fall sick. Most bottleneck managers are capable people who fear losing control. Training in delegation, supported by written processes, usually fixes it and makes them better.

The Coaster

This manager holds the title and the salary but adds very little value to the company or its bottom line. First, try to put them on a Performance Improvement Plan (PIP). If it does not work, let them go. Our corporate restructuring service can help you identify managers like this.

The Absentee

This manager is always "on the field", "at a meeting" or "stuck in traffic", and rarely reachable. Their team works without supervision, decisions wait for days and clients learn to call someone else. Sometimes the cause is a side business, and sometimes the role was never clearly defined. Set written expectations for availability, reporting and attendance, depending on what the role entails, then review after a fixed period. If nothing changes, let them go.

The Owner's Relative

Many Nigerian businesses employ a brother, cousin, in-law or family friend in management, often out of trust or family obligation. The problem starts when nobody can correct them. Managers below report around them, and staff conclude that the rules apply only to people without family ties. A capable relative can be a real asset, so start with training and the same appraisal everyone else receives. If they cannot accept correction like other staff, the owner has to decide whether to move them out of management, even if they stay in the family business in a non-operational role.

The Quiet Builder and Honest Challenger

The quiet builder rarely makes noise. Their team stays, their juniors get promoted, their reports are accurate, and their unit keeps running when they are on leave. The honest challenger disagrees with you in the meeting room, respectfully, and brings bad news early. The honest challenger is the person who stops expensive mistakes early. Hold these managers close, pay them fairly, and involve them in planning 2027.

A Quick Reference for Your Year-End Review

Type of Manager	What You Notice	Verdict	Why
The Talent Repellent	Good results, but juniors and interns keep resigning	Train, with a deadline	The gap is in leadership skill, and coaching can close it
The Star Bully	High sales, insults colleagues and HR	Final warning, then fire	One documented chance is fair, but repeated abuse spreads fear
The Office Politician	Gossip, camps, quiet sabotage of other managers	Warn, then fire	Politics spreads beyond one unit and breaks cooperation
The Tribal Favourite	Hires and promotes by ethnicity, religion or hometown	Train, then fire if it continues	Favouritism divides teams and invites discrimination claims
The Trusted Insider Who Took Money	Long service, inflated or falsified records	Fire, after investigation	Integrity cannot be trained, and keeping them invites further loss
The Bottleneck	Will not delegate, team stalls without them	Train	The ability is there, and delegation can be taught
The Coaster	Title and salary, little output	Fire, if an improvement plan fails	The role has become a cost the business can no longer carry
The Absentee	Rarely reachable, team unsupervised, decisions delayed	Set expectations, then fire if unchanged	An unsupervised team costs money every day
The Owner's Relative	Cannot be corrected, managers report around them	Train, then move out of management if needed	One protected manager weakens every rule in the business
The Quiet Builder	Stable team, accurate reports, unit runs without them	Hold close	This manager makes the business less dependent on the owner
The Honest Challenger	Disagrees respectfully, raises problems early	Hold close	Early warnings save money in a hard economy

Letting Go Without Creating a New Problem

When the verdict is to let someone go, keep written records of every query and warning, give a fair hearing before any dismissal for misconduct, respect the notice periods as agreed in their employment contract, and pay every final entitlement. Where fraud is involved, preserve the evidence and follow due process.

What You Should Know

The managers you take into 2027 will decide how your business handles another year of high costs and thin margins. You must measure them by what they deliver and by what that delivery costs you in people, trust and money. Then decide, calmly and in writing, who to train, who to release and who to keep close.

Traction Outsourcing Limited helps businesses across Nigeria make these decisions with structure. We design and run manager appraisals, including 360-degree feedback and exit interview reviews. Our employee training builds leadership and delegation skills in the managers worth keeping. Our HR documentation team writes the disciplinary policies and improvement plans that make every exit fair, and our corporate restructuring service redraws reporting lines so no manager grows bigger than the business. When a role falls vacant, our recruitment team finds the replacement, and Traction Outsourcing HRMS keeps every appraisal on record. Book a call with our team at tolnigeria.com/book-a-call/ and let us help you decide which managers should follow you into 2027.

Decide Who Follows You Into 2027

Tell us which managers you are unsure about and a business support officer will reach out to you to plan your year-end appraisal.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which managers should I keep for 2027?

Keep the managers who deliver results without costing the business its people, trust or money. The Quiet Builder, whose team stays and whose unit runs when they are on leave, and the Honest Challenger, who disagrees respectfully and raises problems early, should be held close, paid fairly and involved in planning 2027.

How do I appraise a manager properly?

Ask two questions: what did this person deliver this year, and what did it cost the business to get it? To answer the second, look at who left their unit and read the exit interviews, run 360-degree feedback, check payment records and expenses against invoices and bank statements, and then sit with the manager to hear their side before you decide anything.

What is a performance appraisal?

A performance appraisal is a structured review of how well a person has done their job over a period. Traction Outsourcing advises doing it every quarter (every three months) and combining the results into a yearly review. A manager's appraisal has to go further, because a manager's output includes the work and wellbeing of the people under them.

What is 360-degree feedback?

360-degree feedback is a review in which a manager is rated by their own boss, their peers and the people who report to them, usually through short anonymous forms. Staff will often tell a form what they will never tell the owner.

Should I fire my top-selling manager if they insult colleagues?

Not at once, but do not ignore it. Verbal abuse is a type of workplace misconduct with real consequences, whoever is doing it. Let your staff handbook take effect, give one final written warning, pair it with coaching and set a short review period. If the abuse continues, let them go, because your staff are watching to learn whether results buy immunity in your company.

What should I do if a long-serving manager is inflating payment records?

Investigate properly, document everything and let them go. Long service builds trust, and trust often means fewer checks, which makes letting go feel personal, but integrity is one thing training cannot install. Where fraud is involved, preserve the evidence and follow due process.

Which managers can be trained and which should be let go?

Managers whose gap is a skill can usually be trained, with a deadline: the Talent Repellent who cannot lead people, the Bottleneck who will not delegate, and an unconscious Tribal Favourite. Managers who break trust, such as the Trusted Insider Who Took Money, should be let go after investigation, and the Star Bully and Office Politician should be let go if one warning does not stop the conduct.

How do I let a manager go without creating a new problem?

Keep written records of every query and warning, give a fair hearing before any dismissal for misconduct, respect the notice periods in their employment contract and pay every final entitlement. Where fraud is involved, preserve the evidence and follow due process.

How can Traction Outsourcing help me decide which managers to keep?

We design and run manager appraisals, including 360-degree feedback and exit interview reviews. We train the managers worth keeping in leadership and delegation, write the disciplinary policies and improvement plans that make every exit fair, redraw reporting lines through corporate restructuring, and recruit replacements when a role falls vacant. Book a call with our team to get started.