Management get the most from workers by getting out of the way

A new study of 3.5 million employees by leading attitude research company, Sirota Survey Intelligence has revealed that workers are more productive when their bosses keep out of their way.



76% of employees questioned at companies around the world revealed that the obstacles their management throw at them, such as excessive bureaucracy, blame-placing, lack of input into and delays in decision making, interfere with their ability to get their work done quickly and efficiently.

Key obstacles include:-

Excessive bureaucracy ñ 62%

More attention to placing blame than solving problems ñ 59%

Inconsistent management decisions ñ 57%

Wasted time and effort ñ 56%

Lack of input into decision making ñ 56%

Delays in making decisions ñ 51%

Dr David Sirota, chairman emeritus of Sirota Survey Intelligence, and author of The Enthusiastic Employee: How Companies Profit By Giving Workers What They Want commented: ìPeople come to work, to work. Unfortunately, they often find conditions that block high performance, such as excessive bureaucracy burying them in paperwork and slowing decision making to a crawl. Or, they work in an atmosphere where management is consumed with finger-pointing, rather than cooperative problem-solving. Management doesnít have to motivate employees to perform ñ it has to help employees perform, which in many cases means getting out of the way.î

Qualities that make a workerís job worthwhile include:-

Knowing whatís expected of them ñ 83%

Competence of their immediate supervisors ñ 78%

The type of work they do ñ 76%

Cooperation within their departments and teams ñ 74%

ìMany companies try to place the blame for poor performance on employees or their immediate supervisors,î said Nick Starritt, managing director, Sirota Survey Intelligence, Europe. ìWhile unmotivated workers or incompetent supervisors are at times the problem, employeesí most widespread frustrations arise from deficiencies in senior and middle management and staff. They are either not doing what they should ñ such as facilitating communications and cooperation among work units ñ or are doing what they shouldnít such as imposing needless and cumbersome bureaucratic procedures to monitor and control workers. And the remedies are usually simple ñ starting with simply asking front-line staff what they need ñ or donít need ñ to enable them to perform their jobs.î

David concluded: ìRemoving obstacles to performance would enormously improve the competitiveness of companies. In fact our findings show that performance can be improved by between 20% and 40% in most companies if these obstacles are removed.î