Research conducted by the Kenexa® Research Institute o(KRI) evaluated workers’ views of their immediate omanagers and the impact they have on their intent to leave the organization.

The results from the latest cross-culture study indicate that among the six countries surveyed, 12% of workers state their manager is ineffective. Workers in the United Kingdom are more likely to rate their immediate manager unfavorably, while workers in India report the highest levels of satisfaction with their manager.

Employees view their manager as ineffective if they do not practice ethical behavior, provide useful feedback, treat people fairly and effectively manage the workload. For all workers studied, poor managers have a significant, unfavorable impact on how these workers rate their pride in their organization, willingness to recommend it as a place to work and their overall job satisfaction. Additionally, those employees who are dissatisfied with their manager state a much higher intention to leave the organization versus those who are satisfied.

Results among the six countries surveyed dramatically indicate an employee is three times more likely to state an intention to leave the organization if they have a manager who is doing a poor job in leading their team or organization. In India and China, the impact is even higher.

“Given the high cost of employee turnover, it is clear that poor managers within an organization dramatically increase the cost of operations. Managers who demonstrate ethical conduct, show consideration and respect, and have an open, proactive relationship with their employees can create high performing units and also do a better job of retaining talented employees,” said Jack W. Wiley, Ph.D., executive director, Kenexa Research Institute.

Database Overview
The Kenexa WorkTrends™ database is a comprehensive normative database of employee survey results with comparisons on topics including leadership, employee engagement and customer orientation from workers in Brazil, China, Germany, India, the United Kingdom and the United States.

Study Details
The WorkTrends survey question was designed specifically to evaluate how workers view their immediate manager. The question asked was: Overall, how good a job do you feel is being done by your manager?

Employee Engagement
The WorkTrends survey questions were designed to evaluate employee engagement. The questions asked were:

• I rarely think about looking for a new job with another company.
• I would gladly refer a good friend or family member to my company for employment.
• Overall, I am extremely satisfied with my company as a place to work.
• I am proud to tell people I work for my company.

Opinion items were rated using a 5-point Likert-like scale. The percent favorable is the percentage of people who chose either of the two most positive answers (typically “strongly agree” or “agree”).

Employee engagement is calculated by averaging the percentage of favorable responses across these four items. This results in a single score that reflects the overall employee engagement (Figure 1).

Manager Effectiveness (See Figure 2)

• Sixty-three percent of subordinate employees rate their managers as effective.
• Twelve percent of subordinate employees rate their managers as ineffective.

Impact of Managerial Effectiveness on Employee Retention
As the results dramatically indicate, an employee is three times more likely to state an intention to leave the organization if they have a manager who is doing a poor job in leading their team or organization.