Article | Why It’s Alarming That 50% of People Leave Their Jobs Due to Poor Manager Quality

Why it’s alarming that 50% of people leave their jobs due to poor manager quality 

In 2022, the Pandemic gave way to ‘The Great Resignation’ as the leading workforce trend.  In that same year, two major surveys reported the pivotal role that managers play in making that resignation rate a reality. 

It wasn’t the key insight, but the figures, that were startling.  The first, DDI, told us that 57% of people have left a job at some point in their career because of a manager.  The second, Gallup, told that 50% of Americans have left a job to "get away from their manager at some point in their career." 

When I look at those stats, I’m not surprised.  I have quit a job because of a lackluster boss, and I suspect you have too.  But should we accept that over half of our workforce have quit a job due to a poor manager? What if the job they are going to quit is in your business, today? Would you let it persist? 

This is costing companies money - and lots of it. 

Gallup goes on to tell us that managers hold the key for up to 70% of employee engagement. 

And that 70% of engagement, equates to a difference of 20% in productivity and in profit.  Stop for a moment and do the maths for your business.  How much is that 20% worth to you?   

Most business owners might invest in engagement activities - large businesses certainly do, a lot.  But they rarely - if ever - focus 70% of that investment on their managers.  And they should - managers have a key role in deciding workload, fixing (or ignoring) ongoing issues, have power over career progress and are - let’s face it - the ‘face’ of company leadership (all major drivers of the Great Resignation by the way). 

That means that you can’t afford to ignore them, bypass them or override them.  You need to invest in them - because if managers are engaged, then so is your workforce - Gallup tells us that employees who work for an engaged manager are 59% more likely to be engaged. 

It’s easy to neglect your managers. 

We often neglect our experienced leaders in the chaos of running a business.  They are the ones who know what they are doing, maybe were hired because they’ve done it before, and therefore are apparently the least ‘needy’ - for which you may be grateful.   

But don’t be fooled into thinking that their professional, capable demeanour means they are highly engaged - they are often struggling more than their teams, with DDI reporting burnout in 60% of managers. 

Managers - especially mid level leaders, who BoldHR calls the B-Suite - are typically the least invested-in cohort in both large and small organisations.  According to Gallup: 

• Only 4 in 10 managers "strongly agree” with the statement, "This last year, I have had opportunities at work to learn and grow.”  

• And just 1 in 3 managers strongly agree with the statement, "There is someone at work who encourages my development.” 

Our mission is to reverse this state of affairs - in order to increase employee engagement and deliver better corporate performance. The good news? It’s easy to re-engage them. Here’s how: 

• Start at the top.  If you, the business owner, is burned out, stressed or disengaged, then your leaders will be too.  You’re not immune to the pressures of a volatile market, post-pandemic personal recovery - Deloitte’s research shows that Executives are struggling too.  But you’re the start of the culture cascade effect - the shadow you cast over your organisation is by far the longest.  So if you’re showing up disengaged, then your leaders have no chance of being engaged, or of engaging your workforce.   

• Take a long good look - at your leaders.  Are they disinterested, exhausted, exhibiting controlling tendencies or rarely present?  Could you be ignoring that at the detriment of your performance and your culture?  

• Invest intelligently - your leaders want development, but they value a blend of self-paced learning, peer-to-peer experiences and external perspectives.  They are too experienced for ‘management training’, too busy for traditional models that take too much time on top of their already busy working week, and find internal mentors difficult to fully open up to. 

• Lead with Clarity - we often hear about “Start with Why’, a phrase coined by Simon Sinek in his world-famous Ted Talk and it’s a great tip for business leaders to adopt.  Some recent, real examples of a clear ‘Why’ needed in small to medium sized businesses include:  

• Why are we focused on revenue-only right now, and how long for?  

• Why am I asking you to do this?  

• Why is it beneficial to me personally to get on board with this? 

Rebecca Houghton, author of ‘Impact: 10 Ways to Level up your Leadership’ ($29.95), is a global authority on Mid-Level Leadership and founder of BoldHRⓇ. Rebecca builds B-Suite leaders with C-Suite ImpactⓇ by working at an organisational, team and individual level. For more information about how Rebecca can help your team visit www.boldhr.com