Survey Examines Issues of Unwanted Employees
CHICAGO -- Most managers understand that the quality of their working relationships with employees can make or break on-the-job productivity, but just how pervasive are negative worker/boss pairings? In fact, 27% of bosses have a direct-report employee they'd like to see leave the company.
Results of the CareerBuilder survey were nearly equal by gender, but varied significantly by age, with younger managers (ages 25 to 34) more likely to report having an employee they would like to leave than older managers (ages 55-plus) by a margin of eight percentage points -- 32% to 24 %, respectively.
"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. "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."
When dealing with an employee they would like to leave, 42% of managers are likely to issue a formal warning. Other things managers say they are more likely to do that may serve as a red flag for workers include:
- Point out shortcomings in employee's performance more often: 27%
- Reduce responsibilities: 21%
- Hire someone else to eventually replace the employee: 12%
- Move the employee to another work area: 8%
- Keep employee out of the loop regarding new company developments: 8%
- Communicate primarily via email instead of in person or over the phone: 7%
- Don't invite the employee to certain meetings or involve him/her in certain projects: 6%
- Don't invite the employee to social gatherings with co-workers: 3%
Haefner offers the following tips for workers looking to repair relationships with management:
- Identify areas you can improve immediately and display your commitment to the company's objectives. A majority (63%) of managers say the best thing a worker can do after a falling out with the boss is to simply improve the quality of work. In most cases, the negative attitudes will be history.
- 59% of managers say one's ability to "move forward and not hold a grudge" is important to repairing working relationships. This is a two-way street, of course, but workers who are able to display professionalism in spite of personal differences will be in a better position to navigate office politics. Similarly, 38% say simply not discussing the falling out with other colleagues is a smart way to repair a relationship.
- If you sense your manager is pushing you away, take preemptive action by presenting ideas that may improve the working relationship; 40% of managers cite this as a good way to move past the problem. Workers have the right to clear expectations of their roles and responsibilities. A conversation that redefines or clarifies those expectations sometimes is necessary.
Published by The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
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