Given their options, one-in-two employees most want to avoid inept leadership in a new job opportunity, according to a recent study we conducted at Right Management.
We surveyed 559 North American workers to find out what they would most try to avoid in a new position. A clear majority (51 percent) wish to steer clear of incompetent leaders even more than a rigid work setting or high workplace stress. Only seven percent indicated they would most want to shun poor compensation.
According to these results, incompetent leadership seems to be a hot button for many employees. We anticipated people would want to shun workplace stress or perhaps low compensation. We also know that many people disengage when professional growth and opportunities decline, but with this research we have a chorus who view leadership incompetence as the primary thing to avoid in employment situations in the future. This raises several questions: Are respondents basing their answer on actual experience of incompetence, or just an abstraction? How would respondents define incompetence and which parts of that definition would prove to be most disagreeable for them?
The findings, however, suggest that employees will put up with a difficult situation, including a bad work environment, if the leadership is effective. This is more evidence about the crucial role that must be played by leaders. People will forgive a lot if they perceive that they are being well led.
The recent business climate has necessitated many fast and short-sighted changes and other quick decisions without explanations of rationale provided to employees. We interpret the results as highlighting the lack of trust between many employees and their current managers, which may stem from the changes not being well-communicated nor understood.
With the volume of change surrounding most businesses of late — layoffs, restructurings, changes in business strategy — most managers have had their hands full managing the business and meeting aggressive goals with fewer resources. If people don’t know why things are happening — the rationale or the business case — as well as what the plan is moving forward, they are less likely to feel confident about how things are being handled and how well their boss is performing.
The danger is that if employees don’t view managers as competent, their commitment to get the job done will be half-hearted. Believing that managers have the capability to make the organization successful is a top driver of employee engagement. And engagement is critical when companies need to draw on all their resources to meet business objectives.
One common challenge is that many organizations rarely screen managers for the critical behaviors that make 80 percent of the difference in business and team performance. Often a promotion is a reward for longevity, or individual production, which has nothing to do with managerial competence. Furthermore, once in their position, managers seldom receive guidance either through informal mentoring or formal coaching programs. As a result, many managers are focused on ‘managing’ and getting things done, with little effort on leading and empowering others to navigate organizational change. ‘Managerial competence’ needs to be defined in this new normal and then align the organization’s manager development, recruitment and succession initiatives accordingly.
It’s an organization’s responsibility to make sure that managers are a fit for the role, and are equipped with the right tools to succeed.
In the absence of this discipline, most employees will be in the dark when it comes to changes in strategy or operations. Frustration builds quickly and trust will be eroded resulting in rapid declines in productivity and engagement.
Joe Johnson is the talent management practice leader for Right Management’s Northeast operations. Right Management is the talent and career management expert within ManpowerGroup. He can be reached at joe.johnson@right.com.
