Figures taken from the CEB Global Labour Market Survey, based on a poll of around 18,000 employees worldwide, also suggest workers in the UK are among the most likely in Europe to intend to move employers in the near future.
Only 37% of UK employees report a strong desire to stay with their current organisation, compared to 46% in both Germany and the Netherlands and 50% in Belgium.
Executive director of CEB's HR practice Brian Kropp commented that the phrase 'people join companies and quit managers' is still relevant, but for different reasons than in the past.
“As every manager supervises more people and spends less time with each individual employee, every minute of that time takes on greater importance,” he said. “A single bad interaction that would have been insignificant in the context of a long-term healthy managerial relationship, becomes a real threat when it is one of the very few things your manager has ever said to you.”
Kropp added that the message to employers is that “line managers matter”.
“It is not enough to put your best performers in managerial positions. You also have to assess their people skills, their ability to inspire and lead others and their desire to be in the driving seat and become a good manager,” he explained.
