Member Article

Young potential at risk from bad management

UK businesses are losing young talent due to poor management, according to new research released by the Institute of Leadership and Management (ILM). The poll of 500 workers aged between 18 and 24 revealed many complaints, including dictatorial management practices, being obstructive, and trying to find someone else to blame.

One of the common feelings among the workers polled was that they were being held back by their managers. In addition, over a quarter of young workers would leave their jobs if they were badly managed.

Although the research shows that some young people (14%) do get on with their managers, significantly larger amounts (25%) believe that they could do a better job than their managers. Negative experiences have left their mark on some workers, as 28% do not want to become managers in the future.

9 out of 10 workers in the younger generation put approachability at the top of the list when it comes to desirable management traits, and this is closely followed by letting staff ‘get on with the job’ (66%).

Despite the poor perception of modern bosses, the majority of ambitious workers intend to learn important leadership skills from their managers, and just less than half of them would like to be managing their own team in less than five years.

Kim Parish, Chief Executive of ILM, said, “It’s imperative that we develop our young talent because they have no qualms about moving on. Young people will leave organisations if they experience poor management and that, combined with the increasing trend for portfolio careers, means that businesses risk losing the talent they have put so much time, money and effort into recruiting and developing.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .