Nearly half of employees surveyed (46%) believe their bosses are poor decision makers, with many blaming incompetence and lack of confidence as contributory factors for their indecision. In contrast, according to new research published today, 82% of bosses say that managers in their organisation are in fact good decision makers.

The research, conducted by YouGov for Investors in People – the organisation that works with companies to improve performance – highlights the negative impact of poor decision-making on employees. Of those who say their bosses are poor decision-makers, 61% report that it leaves them frustrated or angry or causes them to lose respect for the manager.

These employees also believe that poor decision-making is detrimental to the performance of the business – 83% claim it damages morale, 51% say it reduces productivity and nearly one in five (19%) say it allows competitors to get ahead.

When questioned about the reasons behind their managers’ indecision, half (51%) of employees who think their managers are indecisive point to lack of competence and a third (34%) to lack the confidence. 26% say managers are not sufficiently empowered by senior management and 21% believe that they haven’t had enough training.

Simon Jones, Acting Chief Executive at Investors in People UK, commented:

“This is worrying problem for UK organisations. Effective decision making is a vital skill for any manager, and critical to the smooth operation of the organisation as a whole. Indecisive managers are a drain on the company and a major frustration for their teams, damaging employee motivation which can in turn undermine productivity and affect the organisation's progress.” 

According to the research, when managers do make important decisions, employees feel that their views aren’t properly considered. Whilst 51% of senior managers surveyed thought that management sought the views of others in their organisation before making a decision, only 22% of employees believe this is true. In fact, nearly half (47%) of employees claim that when bosses make a decision they simply inform others afterwards, and a further 16% say bosses are secretive about the decisions they make.

Simon Jones added:

“There are clearly a number of factors which can lead to bad decision making but it is particularly worrying that managers are failing to involve other people as they put plans in place. Without employee input it is difficult to ensure that the team as a whole buys in to what has been decided and is motivated to play their part. Equally, decisions made in isolation are unlikely to take account of the full picture and may well not be in the best interests of the organisation. A participative, inclusive culture is key and presenting 'fait accompli' decisions is not the way to achieve this.”

Other interesting findings from the research include:

• Over half of employees in local government (51%) believe managers are generally indecisive.
• Sectors in which employees believe their managers are most decisive are retail (58%), finance (59%) leisure (56%).
• The longer an employee has worked for the company, the less confidence they have in their bosses’ decision making: 62% of people who have worked for their company for less than a year believe managers are good decision makers, but this falls to 40% for those who have been there 6-10 years.
• Managers in the West Midlands are most likely to seek views from employees (according to 29% of employees). Managers in the North West, East of England and Yorkshire and Humber are believed to be the least collaborative in this way (17%, 19% and 19% respectively).   

Ends

Notes to editor:

All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc.  Total sample size was 3,471 UK adults. Fieldwork was undertaken 14th - 25th June 2007.  The survey was carried out online. The figures have not been weighted.