Lately it seems that one can't cruise the internet without coming across some study or another about how "bad" bosses are perceived to be by their subordinates. The numbers are actually quite alarming with an ever increasing percentage (around 40%) of workers indicating that they work for a "bad" boss.
Additional studies and exit interviews further reveal that an employee's boss is the number one reason for leaving one's job.
Case in point... There's a call center in Canada that is going through tremendous turmoil. Undoubtedly some bad things may be going on there. Who knows. From experience, I can say this without hesitation. How many people in this particular call center HATE their jobs to the point that they have eventually decided to take it out on the management?
Nobody walks around saying, "I made a mistake coming to work here. I should seek employment elsewhere." Instead - they blame the management.
The problem is they hired the wrong people to do the job!
Come on!
What should be done now?
Conduct a survey of all your organization's employees to determine which managers are "bad" and replace them with a new crop of managers? This may be part of the problem but it isn't the entire problem.
The biggest part of the problem is always, always, always employees who are not a good fit for the positions they hold. Back to the call center example. It takes a "special breed" to be able to answer 100 calls in a day - doing the same thing over and over and over again and keep from going insane.
Think about it for a second… A manager's responsibility and duty to the organization is to supervise, correct, and guide the performance of those below him or her. If a team member is in a position that is not a good fit based on his or her behaviors, values, and personal talents, what is going to happen? Chances are VERY HIGH that he or she will perform below expectations for that position and that his or her performance will need to be corrected by the manager.
When this happens the employee will likely begin to ask himself questions like, "Why can't she just let me do my work?", "Isn't anything I do good enough?", or "why is he such a jerk?" It's not difficult to understand why a team member would begin to characterize their supervisor as a "bad boss" is it?
Again... People who don't fit the job always fail to put the blame on themselves. They are going to blame the chair they sit on, the people around them, their equipment, and yes - the boss who is trying to get them to do what they aren't truly able or willing to do.
Within days - that employee will likely turn into an emotional terrorist! Sad but true.
Is the problem really a "bad boss" or a team member who is a bad fit for the position? I am confident that the majority of the time the problem is a poor employee match for the job - not the boss.
Don't get me wrong... There are, without a doubt, some really bad managers out there. But they eventually get "weeded out". There is simply no way that 40% of managers in the workplace are as "bad" as these employee surveys would suggest.
Employing a team member who is not a good fit for their position will almost invariably result in tension and conflict between the team member and the manager responsible for his or her performance. This tension/conflict leads to the "bad boss" perception that is so well documented in recent surveys.
What are bosses to do? Allow people that can't do their work to underperform and stay? That's not rational.
If you think the "bad boss" phenomena is affecting your organization and causing unwanted employee turnover perhaps it is time to take a deeper look at the situation and find the root cause of the problem. We'll wager that the problem is not so much a "bad boss", but rather team members who are in the wrong seats of your organizational bus.
So, how exactly do you determine the root cause of the problem? I would suggest you consider the following strategy I have found to be very effective:
- Benchmark the job to determine what is truly needed for success in the position. Until you know what is really needed to be successful in a particular position, you cannot assess how well a given candidate or team member fits the job.
- Have your team members complete a statistically reliable personality profile and compare the results against the job benchmark.
- Ensure that your team members are in the right position based upon how well they fit the job and help those who are not a good fit for their position to find a more suitable position in your organization.
Having the right team members on the right seats of your organizational "bus" is of paramount importance to the success of your organization.
Having the right team members in the right seats is also critical for the sanity and emotional well-being, employee morale, and financial performance of your organization.
The wrong people in the wrong positions will spell disaster. While the right people in the right positions will take your organization to new heights never before imagined.
Other posts that will be of interest to you...
- Is Having An "Asshole" For a Boss Really Such a Bad Thing?
- The Mismatch Problem
- Improving Employee Performance Through Coaching Score Cards
- Personal Accountability Training - The One Training Program You Need In A Down Economy
- Do Your Employees Know Your Mission Statement?
Now go Maximize Possibility!
Chris Young helps organizations Maximize Possibility through talent management, cultural transformation, and strategic intervention. Bring Chris in today!
