How workers rate their bosses
Survey results consistently show that a third of Kiwi workers feel their boss can’t talk the talk when it comes to communicating well, writes Chris O’Reilly.
After surveying thousands of New Zealand workers across the country, I’ve found that Kiwis are remarkably consistent in how they rate their boss’s strengths and weaknesses.
Over the past two years AskYourTeam has asked more than 5000 employees across New Zealand about their feelings towards their workplace and leadership teams.
I see the same message coming back every time: New Zealand bosses are great team builders, and we’re a nation of workers at our happiest when we’re able to collaborate effectively with our colleagues.
On the flip side, staff all share the same number one frustrations: bosses who are poor communicators.
The AskYourTeam survey asks Kiwi bosses and their employees a range of 64 questions covering every aspect of the workplace from remuneration to health and safety, how your boss treats you, company performance and communication.
After distilling the results, we’ve identified the three things Kiwi workers say our business leaders do best, and the three things they do worst.
What bosses do best
1. Building teams Kiwi employees say their leaders are best at building teams and creating a culture of collaboration among colleagues.
Employees also feel that their performance goals are aligned to the company purpose and understand how their work fits into the bigger team picture. 2. Focusing on customers The second best rating bosses received was for customer focus.
Our leaders motivate us to put our customers first and create environments in which we enjoy making customers happy. The overwhelming majority of us believe that our bosses give customer relationships the right amount of importance in our businesses. 3. Remaining open to bad news Telling the truth at work can often be tricky, but we feel our leaders create a workplace culture where people feel comfortable enough to speak up even if it’s delivering not-so-great news.
Their worst traits
On the flip side, here’s what Kiwi workers rate as our bosses’ worst traits. 1. Leaving us in the dark Respondents’ number one gripe about bosses is that we’re left in the dark when changes are made by those in charge. Disgruntled workers feel that their boss makes changes without consulting everyone who could be affected by the decision. 2. Not asking for our feedback Kiwi workers don’t feel their leaders provide channels to have a regular say in improving how the company runs. Bosses aren’t empowering staff with the means to provide input into how their company could perform better. According to the data findings, onethird of respondents don’t feel they are listened to or given a chance to contribute. 3. Being a poor communicator Despite our leaders providing an environment in which bad news can be delivered safely, a third of Kiwi workers feel that their boss can’t talk the talk when it comes to communicating well. Employees are left feeling uninspired and demotivated by the ineffective way their leaders communicate with the team.
It is clear from this data that leaders need to make it a company priority to improve communication channels with their staff by asking for, and listening to, their feedback.
The positive news is that, as great team builders, Kiwi bosses are encouraging collaborative workplaces where staff want to contribute to the success of the company and want to provide input into daily operations and big picture strategy.