Bad Bosses Admit Shortcomings in Survey

NEW YORK (MainStreet) – Think your new boss couldn’t lead his way out of a wet paper bag? He might agree.

A new survey from Career Builder finds that 26% of managers were skeptical about their ability to lead when they first took the job. Of particular concern was their ability to deal with issues between co-workers, with a quarter calling this their biggest challenge. Motivating team members came in at a close second.

Perhaps most notably, 58% of the surveyed bosses said they hadn’t received any management training whatsoever before becoming a manger. In other words, this goes beyond the usual self-doubt that accompanies any promotion – most managers really are under-trained.

The survey also spoke to almost 4,000 rank and file workers, who seemed to confirm managers’ worst fears by giving their own bosses mixed reviews. Of those workers, 59% said their direct supervisor was doing a good or great job, but that number dropped to 50% when they were asked to rate the leadership of the team as a whole. Almost a quarter accused their supervisor of playing favorites, and a full 40% of those surveyed said that their company’s leadership team didn’t listen to employees or try to raise morale.

Finally, transparency at the upper levels was bemoaned by many employees, with a third complaining about poor transparency and communication, and 30% saying their company made major changes without warning the staff beforehand.

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