1 in 2 UK workers say their organisation has a negative style of management, putting the economic recovery at risk, according to the Chartered Management Institute (CMI). Take the management style test.
A new survey of the workforce (5,000 adults surveyed by One Poll) highlights the three most common management styles within UK workplaces as authoritarian (according to 21 per cent), bureaucratic (16 per cent) and secretive (12.5 per cent). Only 10 per cent describe their bosses as accessible and just seven per cent think senior staff within their organisation are empowering. Take the CMI test to find out where your management strengths lie.
Responding to the survey’s findings, Ruth Spellman, chief executive of CMI said: “It is an embarrassment for the UK that over half of companies’ management style is seen to be negative by the people that know them best – their employees. And in case bosses think this doesn’t matter as long as they are turning a profit, think again. Goodwill and engagement among employees doesn’t only improve people’s working lives but it adds to the bottom line – in productivity, retention rates and customer loyalty. Negativity breeds negativity and if we are serious about pushing the UK towards economic recovery, we need more businesses that are innovative, accessible and empowering.”
First Compare the Meerkat, now Compare the Manager…
To encourage UK managers to consider their strengths and weaknesses, as well as how they come across to colleagues, CMI has launched a unique online application. Answer 12 quick-fire questions and managers will find out whether their primary management strength is providing direction, achieving results, working with people or managing self. Individuals will also discover which celebrity manager their management style is most like and have access to practical guidance and advice which will help them to become better, all-round managers.
Ruth added: “The key to improving management is knowing what is wrong, and it’s time for managers to get serious about their development, play to their strengths and develop any weaker areas. Our new digital tool is great fun but at its heart is a serious message; we cannot allow substandard management to continue to damage UK plc.”
The negative perceptions people have of their bosses, combined with a downbeat portrayal of managers by the media, may also be adversely affecting the desire of individuals to occupy senior roles. A fifth of those surveyed said the traditional stereotypical ‘suited and booted’ view of managers is a major turn-off, while celebrity TV managers, including Lord Alan Sugar and X-Factor’s Simon Cowell, are seen as off-putting by a further 12 per cent. This may also explain why both Sugar and Cowell are unpopular choices as the celebrity managers people would most like to work for, chosen by just 15 per cent and 11 per cent respectively.
Ruth Spellman concluded: “We need to revolutionise management and leadership in the UK, and fundamentally change the way the profession is regarded by both the general public, today’s managers and the managers of the future. Too few people aspire to occupy management roles and the negative perceptions people have of their own managers, combined with the damaging stereotypes peddled by the media, are seriously undermining the profession.”
Politically speaking
CMI also asked people to consider who, among those key figures vying for votes in the forthcoming general election, they would rather be managed by. David Cameron was the most popular choice, for more than a third of those asked (37 per cent) with Gordon Brown in second, securing support from 22 per cent of those polled, closely followed by Nick Clegg with 21 per cent and Caroline Lucas (20 per cent).
2 Responses
Communication and Engagement
I do wonder how much of politicians words and actions are impacted by the fact that their future is dependent on our votes. Are they really prepared to make a stand when they know it would lose them votes even if what they’d like to recommend makes the most sense to them? That comes back to us – do we vote for people willing to tell us what they really think or someone telling us they agree with us?
Managers have different considerations i.e. keeping senior managers and other stakeholders happy and yet it’s the same thing as for politicians – does who pays their wages impact their ability to be true to themselves, make the right decisions and say No when they should?
Many years ago I was involved in making people redundant and on other occasions have been involved in outsourcing whole teams. It would have been easy to fall back on the the role adopted by many managers and demonstrated those behaviours seen in the poll i.e. authoritarian, bureaucratic and secretive. The manager of one team at the time did just that and said “The decision has nothing to do with me”. I took a different stance and, whilst empathetic (I hope), I stood by my decision and continued a dialogue throughout with all involved. If I couldn’t provide an answer I said so – instead of providing more flannel. Many of those individuals have kept in touch with me even 15 years later – I’m not sure they did the manager who hid!
I think the challenge is to have an environment that supports those individuals willing to be authentic and doesn’t support those who put on a role and associated mask when they walk through the front door. We each have responsibility for the negativity from management because we accept and go along with the game playing.
Although I know that’s perhaps easier to say as someone who is self employed. Although someone who is prepared to say no to work if the game playing is apparent even if the bank balanced would want otherwise.
Alison
Will the real tribal leaders of 21st Century business please ste
With the economic downturn bumping along the bottom of the cycle, people’s fear of job security is matched in the exponential relationship with managers’ willingness to communicate and engage with their people. Despite every known expert and survey indicating that now more than ever, organisations need to evoke not provoke the loyalty of their tribes, it is ironic that fear still rules in corporate and public sector Britain.
Fear of what? Well, in this instance, it appears to be fear of the unknown. Corporatism has bred risk aversion and ostrich behaviour into the DNA of most management cultures. Better to say nothing than be found out that you were wrong. Is this a result of HR policy and litigany? Or is it a steak of human weakness that has been encouraged as the default setting for managing in times of uncertainty?
What is certain is that we are at a stage where 20th Century industrial-age management thinking is increasingly at odds with the values and principles emerging in the 21st Century.
Where are the bold chieftains to lead their tribes forward? Where are those chieftains in UK plc we’d want to fight for in times of adversity? You know the kind of chieftains prepared to take a stand or put their heads above the parapet? Surely they are out there and in times like this fortune favours the brave and they and their organisation will prevail – take a look at John Lewis if you need a water tight case study.
Or maybe we’ll just all hunker in the bunker for a while and see what happens after the election? More industrial unrest by the sounds of it?
Tin hats anyone?