Posted on February 10, 2016

NEW RESEARCH REVEALS 50% OF WORKERS WILL BE LOOKING FOR A NEW JOB IN 2016

We are just one month into 2016 and already one fifth of all workers are searching for a new job, according to a new report by Investors In People. The reason? The stress, frustration and annoyance of dealing with poor managers.

The survey of 2,000 adults found that half of workers will be looking for a new job in 2016 because of unhappiness over pay, promotion prospects and heavy workloads.

However, when asked whether a pay rise would be enough to compensate for bad managers, respondents rejected the offer. In fact, a third of those questioned said they would prefer more flexible working hours than a pay increase, while one in four wanted their employer to invest more time into training and staff development.

This growing trend of dissatisfaction, combined with new recruitment opportunities, highlights the need for effective talent management and companies to fully nurture and engage their employees.

Paul Devoy, head of Investors in People, said that British workers are equally concerned about producing meaningful work for a meritocratic and well-run organisation as they are pay.

"Improved salaries over recent months means that pay is less of a gripe for UK workers,” he said. “But longstanding issues around poor management and how valued people feel in their work continue to make UK workers miserable.

"We know that bad leadership alone costs the £39billion a year. If employers addressed these factors, they would have a more committed workforce and far fewer resources tied up in constant recruitment drives. As the economy improves, many employers run the risk of losing their valuable, skilled staff."

The study provides some substance to the old adage, “people don’t leave bad jobs, they leave bad bosses.”

From the way they start meetings to their general tardiness to the manner in which they punish disruptive employees, the actions of managers can make or break the workplace experience for staff, particularly in small, close-knit organisations.

Entrepreneur.com’s list of the nine management issues that can trigger good staff to leave include; overworking employees, failing to recognise and reward their good work, not caring about employee wellbeing, failing to honour commitments, hiring and promoting the wrong people and blocking workers from pursuing the projects they’re most passionate about.

Other career development-type criticisms of bad managers were their failure to develop people’s skills, engage their creativity and challenge people intellectually.

Ultimately, the price of good employees leaving companies is expensive to bosses, both in time and money. And the higher the turnover, the more expensive it typically gets, especially for small- and medium-sized businesses with limited resources.

The average rate of employee turnover in the UK stands at around 15%, though this figure does vary from industry to industry. The cost to British businesses of bringing in new staff is at least £4.13bn, according a report by Oxford Economics and income protection firm Unum.

Small companies with few employees may find it especially difficult to replace workers, as workers may fill a variety of different specialised roles. The Oxford Economics study found that new staff don’t reach peak productivity for 28 weeks, on average, costing their employer £30,614, including £25,182 in wages and £5,433 for agency and advertising fees.

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