Bad managers are the absolute worse.
They upend company culture, interrupt operational strategy and can create an untenable atmosphere in the workplace.
The worst of it is, a large percentage of companies fail to notice when management is affecting productivity, blaming high turnover on everything else under the sun.
The truth of the matter is that people often leave great jobs because of bad management.
One Gallup Poll reports that 70% of an employee’s engagement is affected by their manager.
So how do you recognize when your management isn’t performing? Take a look at our top 5 signs below.
1. Bad Managers Micromanage
Failing to engage people creatively or intellectually will result in unenthused, automaton workers. People want to feel inspired and capable.
This can only be done if they are entrusted with a task in the most complete way.
Micromanagement is for those who clearly don’t know how to delegate, and delegation is the key to effective management.
2. Bad Managers Don’t Reward
Offering incentives or rewarding positive achievements are a cornerstone to employee engagement.
Everyone, no matter who they are, wants to be recognized for the work they do.
High-performing individuals often get that way because they feel respected and appreciated.
3. Bad Managers Set Expectations Too High
There’s nothing wrong with setting the bar high, in fact healthy competition and lofty goals can work wonders towards employee productivity.
However, over-working employees and increasing their workload can have disastrous results.
A Stanford report shows that overwork ultimately leads to decreased total output. Productivity gets capped at 50 hours and declines from there.
The outcome then is tired and unhappy employees.
4. Bad Managers Don’t Invest in Relationships
Developing personal relationships with your employees has a large margin of success.
People want to feel as though they can share in their joys and failures with someone who cares.
These days employees spend so much time in the office that they need to have a personal investment. This is hard to cultivate if your management only focuses on the bottom line.
Bad management can wreak havoc on any workplace. However there is an oft-overlooked solution.
Gallup finds that one in 10 people are inherently inclined towards a management role.
This means that at least one person on every team has the ability to secede to the top tier.
Take a closer look and you may find that the perfect manager is right in front of you, waiting to take your company to the next level.