Member Article

Strong Leaders Attracting More Workers

The UK is seeing a resurgence in the popularity of strong bosses in the workplace according to research from recruiter Randstad UK.

The Imperial CEO, the great leader, became less fashionable in the eighties with the decline in deference. The nineties saw the reputation of business leadership tarnished with the scandals unearthed in the aftermath of Robert Maxwell’s death; then Polly Peck; and attacks on overmighty bosses in regulation like the Cadbury Report. The collapse of Enron under Kenneth Lay; the banking crisis; and the arrest of Bernie Madoff further damaged the reputation of business leadership.

But that’s changing according to the recruitment and HR services business.

In the last seven years, there has been a resurgence in the popularity of strong leadership in the workplace. In a long-running poll of employees working in the UK, sampling more than 62,000 people and now in its eighth year, Randstad has tracked the attractiveness of strong leadership as a factor in influencing candidates’ views of potential employers as part its global employer branding research - available for download here.

In 2012, just 14% of employees said strong management / leadership was an important factor in attracting them to a new employer. By 2014, this had risen to 15% of potential employees, rising to 17% in 2015 and 2016, then 24% in 2017. This has now risen to 28%.

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Strong Leadership Is an Attractive Quality in A Potential Employer

Mike Smith, the CEO of Randstad UK said, “After many years of decline, strong leadership is fashionable again and we’re enjoying a renaissance in the reputation of leadership. The trend has been driven by the rise of the visionary tech billionaire. Steve Jobs’ success propelled Apple to become the world’s most valuable publicly traded company in 2011. Elon Musk began delivery of the four-door Tesla Model S in 2012. In the same year, Ginni Rometty became the CEO of IBM, Sheryl Sandberg became the first woman to serve on the board of Facebook, and Mark Zuckerburg took the company public. James Dyson, Jeff Bezos, and Arianna Huffington have become internationally renowned leaders. They’ve made films about Zuckerberg and Jobs. The accomplishments of these incredibly successful leaders and their sky-high high profiles have reignited a belief in strong leadership. It’s one of the reasons the Apprentice has been so successful.”

But while strong management is becoming more important to workers when choosing a new job, poor management and a lack of strong leadership is also pushing employees out of their current jobs. Between a fifth and a quarter (22%) of employees in the UK say that Poor Management is a reason to consider leaving their current job.

**The Worst Offenders - Engineering, Sales, & Accountancy ** Some sectors are suffering more than others – a reflection of the quality of management in different industries. For instance, 23% of design engineers, project engineers and other professionals involved in various engineering disciplines say they’d consider leaving their current job due to poor management – as do 23% of accountants and other banking, finance and insurance professionals. And almost a quarter (24%) of those sales executives, sales managers and customer service advisors working in services and sales say they would consider leaving their current job because of poor management. In the worst sector, Property & Real Estate, 29% said they would leave their job because their organisation showed such poor leadership.

**Better Management In Education and Construction **

On the other hand, 21% of KS1 teachers, KS2 teachers, TAs, primary teachers, maths teachers, science teachers, and SEN teachers – said poor management would drive them to quit – suggesting that leaders in education are better than average.

In construction, only 21% of quantity surveyors, site managers, labourers, project managers, and section engineers say that poor leadership might make them quit their current job – the same as for HR managers and HR business partners working in administrative and support services.

** Best Management in Health, Tech and… The Trades ** Only 20% of nurses and other healthcare workers complain of bad management and 16% of developers and cyber security experts working in information, technology, and communication. The fewest complaints come from skilled trade workers such as maintenance engineers and handymen where only 14% complain about the quality of management,

Owen Goodhead, managing director of Randstad Construction, Property & Engineering: “There’s a lot of money thrown at leadership training and executive education in the City and the professions. It’s gratifying to see that it’s no substitute for the sort of leadership shown by white van men across the country. But we need to factor in the relationship these different roles have with management. Autonomy and freedom to express yourself and manage your own workload will vary hugely between these sectors – and that will no doubt impact the perception people have of their bosses, and the impact they have on their daily lives. “

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Raoul Duke .