Why Good Workers Leave Bad Managers
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Why Good Workers Leave Bad Managers
While pay and career advancement are important issues for job candidates, many job seekers are far more concerned with more intangible benefits. -
Half-Hearted
Just 52% of survey respondents said they feel “super engaged” at their current job. -
Bad Bosses: Overlooked Contributions
32% said their worst bosses never gave credit where credit was due. -
Bad Bosses: Faint Praise
28% said their worst bosses rarely gave verbal praise or support. -
Bad Bosses: Without a Map
24% said their worst bosses didn’t help them navigate a road to a promotion. -
The ‘People’ Thing
60% said that, when interviewing at a new company, it’s most important to know whether employees there feel appreciated, and 27% said they want to know how the rest of their potential team feels about their boss. -
Minor Concerns
Only 5% said they’d most care to how long it takes to get a promotion, and just 4% said they care most about how often they’d get a raise. -
Protection Plan
33% said they’d rather know that their manager “always has my back” as opposed to having a clearly defined career path (22%) or getting regular performance feedback (17%) or having a results-driven bonus structure (16%). -
Elusive Appreciation
55% said they’d feel most disappointed if their boss never thanked them after going above and beyond to do a great job. -
Best Ways for Bosses to Show Appreciation for Completion of Tough Projects
A team outing: 36%. Small spot bonus/gift: 28%. An email expressing gratitude: 19%. Assignments to new, exciting projects: 14%
Many employees do not feel super engaged at work, according to a recent survey from Appirio. The resulting report, titled “The Human Touch for Tech Talent: Employee Retention Could Be as Simple as ‘Thank You,’ ” sheds light on how bad bosses fall short in motivating employees. Many supervisors fail to give credit where credit is due, for example, and others aren’t helpful in helping their staffers advance in their careers. As for the outstanding qualities workers look for in a boss? Think beyond promotions and raises, which don’t really play that much of a factor here. Instead, workers seek appreciation for strong performance, along with a sense that their managers have their back when the going gets rough. “While companies may try to lure prime candidates with outlandish perks, generous bonus structures, and overinflated salaries, what workers actually want may be much simpler — and considerably less expensive,” according to the report. “It is accepted that workers leave managers, not companies — and they choose to accept jobs for managers, too. While leaders may assume pay and career pathing are the most important issues a candidate examines when evaluating an offer, workers are far more concerned with more intangible benefits.” More than 655 employees took part in the research. (Despite the report’s title, survey respondents represented a broad range of professions, as opposed to strictly IT-related ones.)