Drag the Boss out Back and Shoot Him

This information is from management-issues.  Most of this would be really funny if it wasn’t true.

A survey by consultancy Sirota Survey Intelligence questioned 3.5 million staff over three years at a range of firms including Shell, Tesco, Microsoft and Dell.

What they found was an ingrained belief among employees that their managers, far from driving the business forward, actually hamper progress.

Workers have three basic desires, the survey concluded: to know what is expected of them, have competent bosses and better cooperation across the firm.

The biggest challenge for many companies was creating an enthusiastic workforce as this is the Holy Grail of getting a successful, productive organization, it found.

Sirota chairman David Sirota said: "People come to work, to work. Unfortunately, they often find conditions that block high performance, such as excessive bureaucracy burying them in paperwork, and slowing decision making to a crawl.

"Management has to help employees perform, which in many cases means getting out of the way," he added.

But the reality was that managers all too often simply got in the way and hindered the natural enthusiasm of their workers, he warned.

The study echoes the findings of a survey by specialist journal IRS Employment Review last week. This found that, while the attitudes of employees can make or break a company, bad management was a far bigger drag on a company's productivity and performance.

It’s the manager, stupid.

Thanks to Management Craft for pointing us to the post.

Comments

[Ken Dyck]

It's the manager, stupid?

Nah.

It's the stupid manager! ;)

(My apologies to any managers out there. I'm sure you're doing the best you can with what you've got. It's a hard enough job to do without crackpots like me taking pot shots... I just couldn't resist.)

[Dave L]

I was waiting for that. Thanks for not letting me down, Ken!

[Ken Dyck]

Glad to be of service.