1 in 2 workers plan to quit their job because of their manager

The CMI worked with YouGov to speak to 4,500 UK workers and managers to explore the impact bad management is having on businesses and the wider economy.

Only a quarter (27 per cent) of those asked described their manager as ‘highly effective’, which is having an ‘outsize’ impact on employees, said the CMI.

Fifty per cent of workers who rate their manager as ineffective are planning to leave their organisation in the next 12 months.

Half of employees who do not ‘rate’ their manager plan to quit their jobs. Photograph: iStock

The report also notes the rise of “accidental managers” – people who have won promotions based on internal relationships and profile, rather than their ability and performance. Eighty-two per cent of managers had not had any proper management and leadership training.

Ann Francke OBE, the CEO of the CMI, said that the report should be “a wake-up call for badly managed Britain to take management and leadership seriously.”

“The picture of the UK economy in recent years has been a seemingly relentless drip feed of entrenched challenges, from stalled productivity, labour shortages, skills gaps, to instances of shocking behavioural failings by individuals and organisations that have catapulted the UK into the headlines for all the wrong reasons,” she said.

“Promotions based on technical competence that ignore behaviour and other key leadership traits are proving – time and time again – to lead to failings that cause damage to individuals and their employers, not to mention the wider economy’s performance.”

She added: “On a very practical level, skilled managers should be seen as a reputational insurance policy – they will help prevent toxic behaviours, they will call out wrongdoing and they will get the best out of their teams.”

Taking responsibility: why UK PLC needs better managers report here