A recent survey that I saw looked at employees’ views on their managers.
One of the horrifying findings of the study, which was published by ‘HR Directors Business Support’, was that 86% of workers believed that their managers had no integrity.
And, unfortunately, I feel their views were soundly based. The workforce is, collectively, cleverer and more knowledgeable than its leaders and employees have many opportunities to observe management behaviour.
Other polls have also shown that, despite managers’ well-intentioned policies, the qualities of honesty and openness are not seen as a common phenomenon. Leaving aside questions of how clear such survey questions were and how the statistics were collected, it is certain that a good number of managers are seen as anything but competent, fair and honest.
While I don’t believe that many managers are deliberately dishonest, too many can be evasive and behave poorly and unfairly in their dealings with employees.
A recent example: One of the members of a small team took it upon herself to become the ‘office senior’ and assume charge of a team of five people doing clerical work, a good deal of which involved dealing with the public and other staff.
A newish manager who was responsible for the team but not based in the same office, had to decide who should be in charge. He plumped for a preferred candidate but, because it was not the self-appointed ‘office senior’, he knew that any announcement would cause trouble.
As a result, he decided to make his decision public when she was away on leave, his reason being that ‘it would cause less trouble’. But his dishonest explanation simply demonstrated cowardice.
Fear of confrontation
Other common excuses range from ‘it’s not a good time to do it’ to ‘we don’t want to upset him in the middle of this job’. But not being honest with staff is one of the many examples I have seen of ‘wimpish’ managers. In my experience, such bosses are subject to little respect, although it can take some time before they are found out.
For example, one individual that I came across, not wanting to tackle some aspects of a staff member’s annual performance review, ‘accidentally’ left it on his desk in an open-plan office for the appraisee to discover for themselves.
But it’s not just first line or inexperienced managers who do such things. Many a senior manager, knowing full well that there are going to be substantial redundancies, carries on reassuring the workforce that there will be only a few ‘small readjustments’.
Others, to placate or retain a valued team member obliquely hold out the prospect of promotion, whether such an opportunity exists or not. Yet others have ‘sloping shoulders’ and seem adept at avoiding the assumption of any career damaging responsibilities, not least by shifting blame to others if necessary.
Is it any wonder that so many employees don’t trust their managers?
At the root of much of this negative managerial behaviour is the reluctance of individuals to get involved in confrontation and/or a lack of support at senior level for ‘doing the right thing’ even if it causes embarrassment.
But HR directors can help simply through leading by example. Being open, honest, truthful and squaring up to reality, they can contribute greatly to creating a healthy, honest atmosphere.
Is it enough? I believe that senior managers are also responsible for picking up on examples of good and bad behaviour, fairness or favouritism and taking action to make it clear that negative behaviour is not acceptable. What do you think?
John Pope is founder of management consultancy, John Pope Associates.
