Leadership | Poor management causing over two-thirds of staff to quit or consider quitting

New research reveals the discrepancy between how UK managers believe they’re performing and the experience of those being managed by them, with over two-thirds (67%) UK workers having left or considered leaving their job because of a bad manager.

With almost 5 in 10 (46%) employees not feeling comfortable talking to their manager about mental health, the data also highlights the importance of management training in driving productivity and improving retention.

Unmind, a leading provider of workplace mental health solutions, polled 3,005 office workers (1,500 managers and 1,505 employees) to better understand how challenges around poor management and mental health support contribute to issues such as burnout and quiet quitting. While 83% of managers say they’ve had formal training in people leadership, only 63% of their direct reports believe the same. Two fifths (40%) UK workers say they don’t believe their manager has had sufficient training or the right skills to perform their role.

Those in management positions feel they need more training to improve their hard skills such as delegating effectively (29%), providing feedback (26%) and being more organised (25%). However, their direct reports say they need to upskill in softer attributes such as listening (32%) and motivating the team (30%). Similarly, while 87% of managers feel prepared to handle the challenges of the role, over half (57%) of those being managed believe their managers would benefit from further education or training, underscoring the competency gap.