According to a new study, over half of British workers who are in middle management positions and below don’t view management as a career path they would like to pursue. Many actively avoid leadership responsibilities.
According to the research conducted by YouGov and commissioned by Investors in people, only 32 percent of respondents describe management roles as inspiring or aspirational. 40 percent, however, regarded them as necessary, but not appealing, while 12 percent considered them to be overwhelming and undesirable.
These findings are part of Investors In People’s whitepaper The Broken Ladder. It aims to examine workforce attitudes towards management and identify action for senior leaders.
The report highlights a growing resistance among employees to move into management positions, which raises concerns about future leadership development. Stress, a lack of satisfaction in managing people and inadequate pay are the main deterrents.
Stress and low reward perception
Over half of those who are not interested in being managers (54%) believe that the job involves too much pressure. The figure jumps to 68 per cent among those under 35. This younger group also has 59 percent who say that they don’t enjoy managing people. The average across all age groups is 42 percent.
Younger employees also tend to believe that compensation is not enough to justify the demands placed on them by a managerial role. 38 percent of employees under 35 share this opinion, compared with an average of 30%. All respondents cited a preference for technical and specialist roles.
Increased pay was the most important incentive for 42 percent of those who were considering management. Career Growth is mentioned by 28 percent of respondents, and 27 percent mention that they want to have a positive influence on their business or others. One-fourth of respondents stated that they enjoy developing others.
Middle management is a high-stress position with low rewards
Many people who are already in management positions find them challenging. Seventy-four per cent of respondents described middle management as stressful. Meanwhile, 51 percent said that it was high stress and low reward.
These findings explain why many professionals hesitate to take on leadership roles. This is because employees are less likely to see leadership as an attractive option.
Paul Devoy commented that “Great Britain has a problem with reluctant managers, as our research in the whitepaper explores.” There are too many managers who do not want to manage other people or should not be doing so (perhaps because they never received support to learn to do it). We risk preventing a whole generation from ever becoming managers.”
Leaders point to recognition and development for solutions
Investors in People surveyed 500 leaders of business to support their research. In response to the question of what would make management roles more appealing, 52 percent cited improved recognition in terms of both financial and non-financial rewards. Forty-one percent said better access to professional training, 37 percent favored reducing administrative duties and 36 percent emphasized clearer career advancement.
The employee feedback is very similar to these views. In response to the question of what would make management positions more desirable, 55% of employees stated that good preparation and training before taking on a role would be helpful. The recognition and rewards of good management was cited by 52%, while 49% called for a more realistic workload and fewer admin tasks.
35 percent of respondents mentioned a clearer path for senior leadership. Thirty percent of respondents said that mental health and wellbeing support is important for managers, while 29 percent want more feedback opportunities.
Ann Francke is the Chief Executive Officer of the Chartered Management Institute. She said: “We have a real problem that management is not seen as an aspirational career. People are discouraged from taking on management positions by the rapidity of boom-bust cycles and layoffs. Management is important at all levels. You get better results for your organisation and employee engagement when you train managers. This is not going to happen osmosis. You’ve got work to do.”
