Management behaviour is meeting employee expectations around 50% of the time

The behaviour of managers in several fundamental areas of practice is not meeting employeesí expectations in 50% of cases, indicates a study published by Krauthammer International, one of Europeís leading consulting, training and coaching companies. Krauthammer surveyed people representing a variety of industry sectors in researching the behaviour employees seek from their managers and, in return, experience.

ìThese potentially alarming results show that in many key tasks, and basic management skills, such as guiding others, listening to ideas, securing delivery and giving feedback, managers simply fail to meet their employeesí expectationsî, commented Ronald Meijers, Krauthammer Executive Board member. ìAnd this lack of performance obviously has a direct impact on companiesí success in business itself, so these results present company executives with interesting food for thought, to say the least. The survey offers managers some unambiguous clues to ways in which their day-to-day behaviour can contribute to improved levels of performance and trustî, Meijers concluded.

In the core areas of management behaviour that were surveyed, amongst the biggest gaps between the expectations of employees and reality were the following:

ï 95% would like their manager to analyse their task problems together with them, 41% experience this.

ï 86% would like their manager to create the right context prior to implementing a decision, this is the case 42% of the time.

ï 82% would like their manager to listen to their ideas, and encourage them to continue, 56% experience this.

On the other hand, managers seem to be closer in meeting the expectations of their employees in the following areas:

ï 94% would expect their manager to spontaneously admit their mistakes, and 69% actually do this.

ï 90% would like to be fully involved in the definition of their development goals, and this is the case 68% of the time.

ï 83% would expect their manager to arbitrate conflicts, and 65% of the time this indeed happens.

Based on the results, which indicate several common pitfalls of management, a list of ìgolden rulesî for managers has been identified alerting managers to an important series of ìwin areasî. Here is a selection:

ï In receiving an objection, use questions (rather than defending facts) to formulate your response.

ï In handling dilemmas, involve employees more (rather than chewing on them in splendid isolation).

ï Check your own emotions and assumptions first before giving feedback - and then deliver it without a delay (rather than either telling people off or not confronting them at all).

ï When communicating change, the rationale behind it is not enough - people expect to hear both what the change means for them and to get regular updates on the progress.

The material in the Krauthammer Observatory has been organised into a ìdashboardî ñ a model for management behaviour. Over the next five years Krauthammer observatory will fill the dashboard with ever more data concerning the behaviour employees seek and receive. Please download the complete study here