How businesses can deal with a bad manager
| Pages | 74-78 |
| Published date | 08 June 2015 |
| Date | 08 June 2015 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/SHR-04-2015-0029 |
| Author | Penny de Valk |
| Subject Matter | HR & organizational behaviour,Employee behaviour |
How businesses can deal with a bad
manager
Penny de Valk
Penny de Valk is
Managing Director at
Penna Talent Practice,
London, UK.
Abstract
Purpose –This paper aims to explore how businesses can deal with a bad manager?
Design/methodology/approach –This paper researches the impact of leadership.
Findings –Bad management can affect employee morale, performance, attitude and engagement.
Originality/value –This paper includes a research amongst employees on the impact of leadership.
Keywords Coaching, Talent management
Paper type Research paper
As the economy continues to grow, business performance is firmly under the
spotlight. Attracting, retaining and developing talent is integral to increased
competitiveness, yet businesses are facing a potential “talent drain” from poor
people management.
Penna, the global people management business, recently commissioned “Impact of
Leadership” research to explore the ways in which bad management can affect employee
morale, performance, attitude and engagement. The research revealed some interesting
results, proving that poor management must be addressed by organisations, and, in
particular, those in leadership positions, sooner rather than later. I have outlined some of
the key findings and identified actionable strategies for human resource (HR) directors to
both directly tackle the problem and minimise the impact if bad management has or does
exist within their organisation.
Bad management is a deal breaker
The Penna research shows that almost a third (30 per cent) of those surveyed said they
would leave their job if they had a bad manager. This could have disastrous consequences
for UK businesses, not least because the peripheral impact is almost as significant as the
direct impact. If employees are leaving unhappy, chances are that the rest of the team will
have picked up on it or heard about it from the said disgruntled colleagues. They too may
be finding the situation with their manager challenging. Failing to address the problem
allows it to escalate, and this can have a serious impact on overall business performance.
The research showed that almost a quarter (24 per cent) of employees would speak to their
friends at work about a bad manager, closely followed by 22 per cent who said they would
talk to the HR. Whilst HR directors cannot prevent colleagues sharing frustrations or
problems with each other, they can encourage transparency and ways of communicating
and escalating problems so that employees feel that they are being listened to. There
should be processes in place that encourage openness within teams, and these should
have full senior leadership support. Managers should be encouraged to have ad hoc
catch-ups with employees so that issues are tackled before they grow and become
PAGE 74 STRATEGIC HR REVIEW VOL. 14 NO. 3 2015, pp. 74-78, © Emerald Group Publishing Limited, ISSN 1475-4398 DOI 10.1108/SHR-04-2015-0029
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