Most companies strive to hire or promote someone with the right skills to do the job. But when hiring a manager, many fail to take the manager’s personality, attitude, values, and emotional intelligence into consideration.
What they end up with is a highly technically skilled manager with poor people skills, big ego, “my way or the highway” attitude, and blind spots the size of Grand Canyon. And this error can affect the company’s turnover rate.
How managers affect employees’ decision to leave
When researchers at PsychTests conducted a study on people who are actively looking for a new position, they found that difficulties with management played a major role in the decision to quit.
Analyzing data from 265 people who took PsychTests’ Turnover Probability Test, researchers focused on people who intend to leave their position in the immediate future and are proactively job searching.
When asked what role management played in their decision to leave, the PsychTests study revealed interesting results:
- 24% of soon-to-be quitters report that they don’t have a good relationship with their manager.
- 31% constantly feel like they need to “walk on eggshells” around their manager in order to avoid conflict.
- 45% note that helping employees succeed is not one of management’s priorities.
- 53% claim that management fails to acknowledge or recognize hard work/achievements.
- 53% indicate that any concerns or issue that are brought to management tend to fall on deaf ears and go unresolved.
- 55% feel that management makes promises to employees that they simply do not keep.
- 56% of soon-to-be quitters feel that their manager does not provide employees with sufficient opportunities to develop their skills.
- 24% indicate that their manager does not respect employees.
- 29% feel that the pace at which they are expected to work is too fast.
- 33% state that the demands placed on them are unreasonable.
- 40% assert that management doesn’t treat employees fairly.
- 42% report that the organization looks outside the company to fill management positions, rather than developing/promoting from within.
Retaining good staff is about more than increasing compensation
“These are eye-opening statistics, and they carry a clear message: Turnover isn’t limited to a desire for more money,” explains Dr. Jerabek, president of PsychTests. “There are many factors that play a role in turnover, and the way in which a company is managed has a significant impact on an employee’s decision to stay or go.”
“We understand that giving employees everything they want simply isn’t feasible. For example, a company may not have the funds to pay an employee a salary that aligns with industry standards, or to offer bonuses on a regular basis. However, a good manager will recognize that there are other ways to show appreciation, like praise, gift cards, extra vacation time, flextime, benefits, etc. Unfortunately, our study reveals that only 22% of managers actually do this.”
Time to assess your management
“If a company wishes to reduce turnover,” says Jerabek, “the first step would be to conduct a ‘management audit’. Have managers take a 360 assessment with employees rating their manager’s performance. There’s a good chance it will bring issues to light that the company may not have been aware of.”
Secondly, notes Jerabek, if you’re hiring a new manager, whether it’s from within the company or not, you must remember that a competent manager is someone who has the skills to complete the tasks relevant to a job. “But a great manager,” he says, “is someone who completes tasks well and who can lead a team to success.”
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