Over eight in ten UK employees have experienced poor leadership at work, according to new research that suggested many business owners are unable to inspire and motivate their workforce.
A nationwide survey, by job site CV-Library, asked 1,200 workers what they thought of their employer’s workplace leadership qualities and where bosses were failing, with many failing to meet expectations.
A commanding 93.8 per cent of respondents believed strong workplace leadership qualities were vital in the office, and the common flaws should provoke small business owners to reconsider their approach to management.
Over 60 per cent of workers cited poor people skills as their employer’s worst trait, as managers fail to build a close rapport with their staff.
Poor communication skills followed as the next most common management flaw, while a third of employees also experienced unfair favouring of particular colleagues.
Over three-quarters of respondents said they enjoyed following a leader in the workplace, and small business owners failing to engage with and inspire their workforce could be threatening productivity and bottom-line profits.
Poor leadership was demotivating and detrimental to the overall efforts of over 40 per cent of employees.
Commenting on the findings, Lee Biggins, CV-Library founder, said the repercussions of poor workplace leadership qualities came as “no surprise”.
“Workers want to feel supported in their day-to-day job, and often depend on a strong leader to look up to, approach if things get tough and rely on for help on a daily basis. Organisations that don’t promote best practice when it comes to leadership will inevitably bear the brunt when it comes to talent retention,” Biggins said in a statement.
Some 83.2 per cent of bold employees believed they would make a good leader themselves, citing their own confidence and communication skills as fuelling this belief.
“Workers across the UK clearly understand some of the key attributes that are needed to be an excellent leader, having experienced first-hand some of the best and worst leadership traits that bosses possess,” Biggins added.
According to the survey, these were the workplace leadership qualities employees wanted to see:
- Confidence
- Honesty
- Integrity
- Positivty
- Trustworthiness
- Open mindedness
- Motivational
- Passion
- Transparency
Find out which six leadership traps many small business owners fall into
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