Philadelphia — Aug. 16

Given their options, surveyed employees most want to avoid inept leadership in a new job opportunity, according to Right Management, the talent and career management branch of ManpowerGroup.

Right Management surveyed 559 North Americans to find out what they would most try to avoid in a new position. A clear majority (51 percent) wish to steer clear of incompetent leaders even more than a rigid work setting (22 percent) or high workplace stress (16 percent). Only 7 percent indicated they would most want to shun poor compensation.

“According to these results, incompetent leadership seems to be a hot button for many employees,” said Michael Haid, senior vice president of talent management for Right Management, which provides talent, career and outplacement services to Fortune 500 companies. “We anticipated people would want to shun workplace stress or perhaps low comp. We also know that many people disengage when professional growth and opportunities decline, but with this research we have a chorus who view leadership incompetence as the primary thing to avoid in employment situations in the future. This raises several questions: Are respondents basing their answer on actual experience of incompetence, or just an abstraction? How would respondents define incompetence and which parts of that definition would prove to be most disagreeable for them?”

The findings, however, suggest that employees will put up with a difficult situation, including a bad work environment, if the leadership is effective. “This is more evidence about the crucial role that must be played by leaders. People will forgive a lot if they perceive that they are being well led,” said Haid.

Source: Right Management