Are umbrella company contractors frustrated by unqualified bosses? If so they are not alone. Recent research from the CMI suggests that incompetent bosses, with misplaced confidence, are stressing out the UK workforce.
74% of employees said they regularly have to take decisions which they are neither trained nor qualified to make.
Out of 2,000 employees, 55% said they don’t think their manager has sufficient ability, or the right level of confidence to do the job. And 38% say their boss thinks he/she is good at their job, which suggests that UK workplaces are suffering from a competence-confidence gap.
39% of employees believe that the behaviour of their boss increases stress levels and 34% complain that their enjoyment of their job is negatively affected by their manager. This seems to fit in with the findings of another CMI survey which discovered that just under three quarters of managers reported that morale had dropped in the last six months.
A large proportion of employees think their boss is unapproachable and this affects performance and engagement. 23% regularly worry about making decisions, whilst 10% are concerned about covering up errors they’ve made. Another common complaint is that employers do not offer sufficient training so that staff can improve competency levels. Many employees are afraid to ask for help in case their employer things badly of them. This is particularly true of people in the 18 to 24 age bracket.
The chief executive of the CMI, Ruth Spellman, said managers need to be both competent and confident in their role in order to engage their teams and make sure they reach their full potential. A stressed workforce will not thrive and bosses have to make themselves approachable to help employees develop.
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