About 76 per cent of professionals say that they have had to deal with a bad boss at some point in their career, according to a US based workforce survey by the Jack Welch Management Institute at Strayer University. The survey was conducted to determine how employees perceive their managers, careers, and workplace culture.
The percentage is very high even when 84 per cent workers report having a good relationship with their boss now. 71 per cent believe their boss to be both a good manager and a good leader.
“It’s disappointing to learn that so many working professionals have had to work under bad managers at some point,” said Andrea Backman, dean of the Jack Welch Management Institute.
“Too often, people are promoted to manage teams for the first time, often as a result of excelling in their individual functions, but may be unprepared for the fundamental mindset shift and new skills that come with leadership.”
“Despite all of the management training resources out there, it appears that many leaders do not understand the needs of their employees or how to best build, motivate, and differentiate top-performing teams. We need to break this disconnect by emphasizing candid communication, encouraging continuous professional development, and by helping managers learn leadership essentials that can change the game,” added Backman.
Survey respondents weighed in on the characteristics they would use to describe their worst boss, which included micromanaging (35 per cent), being unapproachable (33 per cent), acting phoney (32 per cent), being unreliable (28 per cent), and lacking focus/organisation (25 per cent).
Conversely, respondents also selected the traits of great bosses, which included being approachable (54 per cent), intelligent (42 per cent), invested in their employees’ success (37 per cent), authentic (27 per cent), passionate (21 per cent), empathetic (18 per cent), and energetic (17 per cent).