It should be no big surprise that there are employees in this world who fall out of favor with their boss.
It should also come as no great surprise that frequently, the boss would like such employees to take a hike and go ply their trade somewhere else — usually as soon as possible.
So, that’s why the only really surprising thing about this latest CareerBuilder survey about boss-employee relationships is that it found that only “27 percent of bosses have a current direct report that they would like to see leave their company.”
What? Only 27 percent? That’s it? Geez, I’ve worked for people who seemingly would have liked to see 90 percent of the people working for them take a hike.
A more interesting finding in the survey is this: Although the results of the survey were nearly equal by gender, they varied significantly by age. Younger managers (defined as between ages 25-34) “were more likely to report having an employee they would like to leave than older managers (ages 55 plus) by a margin of 8 percentage points — 32 to 24 percent, respectively.”
In other words, younger workers were 33 percent more likely to have someone working for them they wanted out. I don’t know about you, but that sounds like a finding that reflects the difference that experience brings to the picture, with older managers being lot more tolerant given their longer tenure in the workforce.
Yes, the longer you work, the more you understand that people are flawed and imperfect — and that the new person coming in the door is probably not much better than the employee you were so happy to see leave.
“It’s important that managers be as direct as possible when dealing with employees that, for whatever reason, aren’t a good fit for their teams,” said Rosemary Haefner, vice president of human resources for CareerBuilder, in a press release about the survey findings.
She added: “Fortunately, a plurality of managers in our survey were open to confronting the situation through a formal discussion or warning; however, some will do nothing at all, or even resort to passive aggressive behaviors that can only prolong a negative working arrangement. It’s important that workers be aware of such warning signs, and if necessary, take steps to improve their situations.”
That comment about “passive aggressive” behaviors on the part of managers who want employees to go away rang true with me, because I’ve found that it is the preferred choice of bad managers everywhere. Rather than be professional and confront the problem head on, all-too-many managers go the passive aggressive route, and that almost always makes the situation a whole lot worse.
The CareerBuilder survey also notes that “when dealing with an employee they would like to leave, 42 percent of managers are likely to issue a formal warning.” What, only 42 percent? I hate to think about what happens in the other nearly 60 percent of cases, but CareerBuilder kindly lists some “other things managers say they are more likely to do that may serve as a red flag for workers.”
These include:
The survey also found that nearly a third (32 percent) of managers said they would do none of the above, and all I can say is amen to that.
This isn’t complicated, but it does get to the heart of what it is to be a manager — being clear and open with the people who work for you, and being willing to sit down and have the tough conversations when they are needed.
As simple and straightforward as that sounds, my experience is that there are far more managers who would rather play games with their employees — like those who pull crap like the things listed above — than are willing to be honest and frank with the people who work for them.
As with all things in life, caveat emptor, and that goes for decisions about the managers and people you work with, too.
Of course, there’s more than managers who want employees out in the news this week. Here are some HR and workplace-related items you may have missed. This is TLNT’s weekly round-up of news, trends, and insights from the world of talent management. I do it so you don’t have to.
