It's the curse of the accidental manager, people who have moved up the corporate ladder without formal management or leadership training
There's a saying that people don't quit their job, they quit their boss. And poor management certainly has a lot to answer for in the workplace. A staggering 82% of new managers are what the Chartered Management Institute calls"accidental managers", according to a YouGov survey commissioned among 4,500 workers and managers in June, which has recently been published.
From RTÉ 2fm's Jennifer Zamparelli, career consultant Susan Keating on how to succeed at job interviews Off work on stress Stress-related illness is among the leading causes of workplace absence, according to the UK government's Health and Safety Executive. And one of the big factors that causes this stress is a lack of emotional intelligence shown by managers. This means having an understanding of your own emotions but also those of others.
A good classroom teacher may only get paid more or gain more workplace experience if they go for a head teacher role, for example. But being a head teacher is very different from working in the classroom every day. One focuses on teaching students, the other tends to involve budgeting and, of course, managing people. This example plays out across many industries – from engineering to law enforcement.
An employee should be able to progress at work if they wish, to earn more money and experience. But if a great employee lacks people skills and is unlikely to benefit from training to improve in this area, they should instead be promoted into roles that don't involve managing people. Existing managers need to ensure the kinds of roles exist that would allow people to receive more pay and prestige without having to take on people management responsibilities.
But HR teams and organisations cannot depend on employees alone to help them identify accidental managers. We are living in difficult economic times. The cost of living crisis means job insecurity is high and employees will be very reluctant to call out poor management. So, exit interviews can also help because they inform managers as to exactly why employees are leaving.