Management struggles

More than 25% of managers said they weren’t ready to lead when they began managing others, according to a new CareerBuilder Survey.

Chicago-based CareerBuilder surveyed more than 2,480 U.S. employers and 3,910 U.S. workers between Nov. 15 and Dec. 2, 2010.

Survey results show that 26% of managers said they weren’t ready to become a leader when they started managing others, and 58% said they didn’t receive any management training.

When asked what the biggest challenge is as a manager, workers in a management position said the following:
Dealing with issues between co-workers on my team – 25%
Motivating team members – 22%
Performance reviews – 15%
Finding the resources needed to support the team – 15%
Creating career paths for my team – 12%

"Good management skills can positively impact productivity, performance and overall employee morale," Rosemary Haefner, vice president of human resources at CareerBuilder, noted in a statement. "We see more companies investing in management training programs to develop today’s and tomorrow’s leaders."

OTHER FINDINGS
• When it comes to rating their direct supervisor, 59% felt their boss was doing a good or even great job. 20% described their direct supervisor’s performance as poor or very poor.

• The top concerns workers have with their boss include:
Plays favorites – 23%
Doesn’t follow through on what he/she promises – 21%
Doesn’t listen to concerns – 21%
Doesn’t provide regular feedback – 20%
Doesn’t keep me motivated – 17%
Doesn’t help me develop – 17%
Only provides negative feedback – 14%

• When it comes to rating the performance of their corporate leaders, 50% felt their leadership teams were doing a good or great job, while 23% described their performance as poor or very poor.

• Corporate leaders received a poor rating from workers primarily due to insufficient communication, unrealistic workloads, and a lack of training and employee development.

• When asked what their biggest issues with their company leadership were, workers said the following:
Doesn’t make an effort to listen to employees or address employee morale – 40%
Not enough transparency, doesn’t communicate openly and honestly – 33%
Major changes are made without warning – 30%
Workloads and productivity demands are unreasonable – 27%
Doesn’t motivate me – 21%
Stopped investing in the development of employees – 20%