Vetle from Norway sent me a link to an article about how bad management is making norwegian employees unhappy at work and costing business tons of money.
From the article:
22% of employees surveyed consider their immediate manager so weak, that maybe that person shouldn’t be a manager at all.
…
There is a clear connection between good managers, satisfied employees and profits. Happy employees create happy customers – and better results for the business. According to our research, happy employees mean a 40% increase in profits.
Also one in three rate their manager as technically competent but a bad leader.
The question is: Is this a norwegian phenomonon or is this true in your country too? What do you think?
Wgen I was an engineer for a major US engineering firm years ago, the Norwegian law dictated that any overtime pay was taxed a a flat 75%. Further, the Norwegian sense of “equality” meant that everyone had to be equal and therefore, no one wanted to be faced with the onus (sp) of being a supervisor. So in a system like that is it any wonder that the less than capable might step forward to take the supervisor’s role.
We on the other hand reward the butt kisser more than we acknowledge and the effect is often the same thing. This is why the show “The Office” is so recognizable.
I have been an independent busines man for 21 years, ready to retire and have loved all of my independence form bad supervision.
This is true in every culture I have interacted with:
– UK
– USA
– South Africa
– Australia
The basic issue is reward and recognition. Somewhere along the line people have been told that you have to be a manager to be recognised that is what they aim for. Unfortunately being a manager makes them miserable, and makes everyone they work for miserable too.
I realised early in my career that I was a terrible manager so stopped doing it. Ever since then I have been under pressure to take on a managers role so I can get the recognition.
The truth is, I get more recognition from not being a manager because I enjoy what I do.
From personal experience i can definitely tell you it’s true in Canada. Some managers here if in charge of recruiting purposely hire peolpe less competent or people they percieve to be less competent than they are.
Rreed: I’m with you, man – and I can see how the situation you describe in Norway can shape corporate culture and who steps into management.
Graham: “I realised early in my career that I was a terrible manager so stopped doing it.” That is something we hear WAY too seldom. It seems that few people have the self-knowledge to realize that they may not be cut out for management. I think it should be easier to try being a manager, to realize that “hey, this is not my thing”, and then to step back from management without the stigma of having failed. It’s not like every single person ever promoted to a management position was good at it :o)
Theo: That sucks! These people must suffer from very low self-esteem to be afraid to surround themselves with good people.