More than half of all Australian employees claim to have been bullied by their managers at some time or another, with 24 percent keen to see their boss fired for the behaviour.
Commissioned by CareerOne.com.au, a survey of over 2,000 people found managers have a lot to learn when it comes to people management, with most rated either ‘horrible’ or ‘average.’
The results indicated that 61 percent claimed they’ve been bullied by a boss, 37.5 percent said their boss had asked them to do something unethical and 12 percent had experienced sexual harassment.
The survey was designed to coincide with the Australian premiere of Hollywood comedy ‘Horrible Bosses,’ staring Jennifer Aniston as one of the three dysfunctional managers who continue to exasperate employees.
When asked to rate their boss’ most horrible traits, the top three responses by employees were ‘bullying,’ ‘belittling,’ and ‘being moody.’
Respondents were also asked to comment on their current manager, where 68 percent described their boss as keeping staff in the dark with secrets, 57 percent felt their manager deliberately caused conflict in the ranks and 56 percent claim their boss is a boot kisser, who manages up while putting the boot onto those below.
When the survey asked how employees would like to deal with their horrible bosses, 50 percent nominated counseling and training, 24 percent wanted the boss fired and 16 percent said they’d settle for the boss to be demoted.
“I was really happy to see that by far the majority of people believed a ‘horrible boss’ should be counseled or receive training,” CareerOne Workplace and Career Expert Kate Southam said.
Southman believes that if a boss were to be fired without counseling or training, he or she would just go on to inflict their brand of poor management on someone else.
“A good manager stays a good manager when the going gets tough so the current challenging climate is a good test of what a manager is made of. Sadly, some managers don’t cut it and get moody or lash out when they get stressed.”
