A survey of 2,100 UK employees, conducted by Visier - a recognised global leader in people analytics - revealed that more than half of the number of people considering leaving their present employment, do so because of their boss.

The survey found that 43 per cent of workers - at some point in their career - have left their job because of their manager and 53 per cent of those polled who are considering leaving their jobs, are also wanting to change their jobs for the same reason.

Experts are warning of the clear cost of poor management - stating that the first requirement of companies is to appoint the correct manager.

Anthony Painter - Policy Director at the Chartered Management Institute - stated that good management was a professional skill needing knowledge and practice. He warned that employers who did not address their management deficits would ultimately pay a big price - commenting:

“The business cost of bad management is abundantly clear, yet too many employers simply do not take this seriously and harm their collective performance and employee wellbeing as a result.”

The research found that 47 per cent of employees cited the most common characteristics of good managers as treating employees well, listening to them and showing respect to all staff, whilst 85 per cent - the vast majority - stated that a good manager was very important for happiness in the workplace. Just under 40 per cent would have remained in their role longer than they intended if they had had a good manager.

Of the respondents polled, 62 per cent stated that they presently have a good manager; 45 per cent were of the opinion that they could do the job better themselves and only 48 per cent said that they felt comfortable talking about their personal life with their manager.

On the other hand, 49 per cent of respondents stated that failure to listen was an attribute of a bad manager, followed by being unapproachable cited by 47 per cent; treating members of the team differently 43 per cent and shouting at the team named by 42 per cent.

Daniel Mason - Vice President EMEA at Visier - said that the pandemic had starved the opportunity for managers and team members to interact in person - advising employers:

“This isn’t a case of leaders becoming bad managers overnight. Managers should look to enhance their toolkit with data and insights to better understand and anticipate employee needs.”