Make Me a Better Manager statistics highlight ‘perception gap’ in how managers see themselves

ETS management statistics of 160,000 employees confirm  MMBM trials data
UK managers divided over company issues

London, 6 December 2007: Management statistics derived from the initial trials of Make Me a Better Manager paint a fascinating picture of the relationship between senior and more junior managers in some of Britain’s biggest companies and highlight a ‘perception gap’ in how managers see themselves.

‘Sometimes,’ observes ETS managing director John Southwell, ‘British industry deserves its reputation for excellence. But MMBM findings show there are occasions when junior managers are less than happy with how the top brass is running the show. What’s more, these variations are amply confirmed by the very much bigger sets of statistics that we have collected* and which contain 2 million responses from over a hundred thousand managers.’

The MMBM findings are also backed by a recent survey by Investors in People.

Figures derived from the nearly 800 participants who responded to MMBM during the trial phase suggest that although 63% of managers usually show good leadership skills no less than one third of British managers were considered lacking when it comes to leadership.

There also seems to be a gap between how managers see themselves and how their colleagues see them. For example, 84% of managers think they are fair, while conversely only 69% of their colleagues thought they were. And while only 39% of managers thought they were good at objective setting, as many as 56% of their colleagues thought they were good – suggesting widespread lack of management self-confidence.

These statistics compare with those from managers who responded to the statement, ‘I believe that the company is well led’ where 78% agree, and, ‘I feel that I am well managed’, where 79% percent of respondents agree.

Similarly high figures were chalked up for statements such as ‘Senior management communicates everything we need to know from them’ (72%) and ‘I feel free to communicate upwards through the company’ (72%)

However, when it comes to a proposition like ‘The company treats everyone fairly’, only 54% of managers agreed, while a whopping 46% disagreed to some extent.

Again, with a statement like ‘Employees are sufficiently involved when the company undertakes change’, barely half of managers agreed (51%).

Perhaps curiously, as many as 85% of managers agree that ‘I have enough say over how I do my work’, but against this only 47% agree that ‘I am happy with my prospects for promotion’ while a worrying 53% disagrees.

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Editor’s Notes: According to Investors in People, reported in Human Resources Magazine, 09/08/07:
Nearly half of UK employees believe their bosses are poor decision-makers, according to a new report. The Investors in People survey found that 46% of respondents do not think much of their manager's skills, citing incompetence and a lack of confidence as the reasons. Of the 3,500 workers asked, 61% said poor decision-making leaves them frustrated and results in a loss of respect for their manager, while 83% said it damages morale. More than half believe it reduces productivity. However, 82% of bosses consider the managers in their organisation to be effective decision-makers. Sectors with the most decisive managers are retail, finance and leisure.

* Figures are from the ETSM3 employee opinion survey database. This contains more than 2 million responses from 164,000 respondents taken from 70 national and international surveys of blue-chip companies in the last two years. Please note that no conclusions can be drawn from these aggregate figures regarding any specific organisation.

About ETS plc
Founded in 1988, ETS plc is one of Britain’s leading providers of talent management systems and consultancy. Organisations that achieve and maintain success are those that best recruit, develop and deploy their talent. ETS believes that this involves aligning individual efforts behind the goals of the organisation and employing talent planning processes to ensure that the right number of appropriately skilled people are ready for every role.

About Make Me a Better Manager
Make Me a Better Manager is an innovative web-based service that gives managers feedback from their workmates on their management strengths and weaknesses.

Managers nominate their colleagues who are surveyed in confidence by email on a range of management skills, such as communications and leadership. The survey is finished in two weeks or less and costs £20. Managers get a report that tells them how high or low their colleagues scored them on key skills, compares their scores with benchmarks for each skill, and gives tips on how to improve. The service is available to all managers in the UK through www.makemeabettermanager.com 

The ‘Make Me a Better Manager’ name and logo is a registered trademark of Expert Training Systems plc (ETS plc).

For further information contact:-

Jacqui Green
JGMPR
Jacqui@jgmpr.com
T: 020 7808 0113
M: 07885 270 349

Dominic Wake
Director, ETS plc
dominic.wake@etsplc.com
T: 01932 219 949
M: 07817 880 261