Dive Brief:
- Nearly 3 out of 4 workers say micromanagement raises the biggest red flag about a workplace; almost half, 46%, say they’d leave a job because of it, according to a survey last month by Monster.com.
- Workers are also turned off by other familiar practices: Almost 6 in 10 consider meetings that could have been handled with an email to be a pain point, and about a third feel the same about weekly progress or “status” meetings. More than one-fourth of workers view team bonding exercises as a pain point.
- Flexibility remains a priority. Being flexible about remote work is a positive sign or “green flag” for 51% of the respondents, while the same percentage say non-flexible 9-to-5 work hours raise red flags. Problematic hiring procedures also raise red flags, including a process that requires more than three rounds of interviews and doesn’t allow a job candidate to interview with their potential manager. Four in 10 workers said job descriptions that don’t disclose a salary range would stop them from applying, as would not being able to negotiate soft benefits, such as vacation time and hybrid work.
Dive Insight:
As if managers don’t already have enough on their shoulders, the Monster.com survey is a reminder of what HR pros have long recognized: Bad bosses can drive good workers away.
That was apparent from a January 2022 report by Ten Spot. It revealed that almost half of employees responding to a survey said they currently have a manager who made them want to quit. The numbers nearly doubled for those in managerial positions who said they want to quit because of their bosses.
The idea that workers will leave because they’re unhappy with management isn’t new, but the pressures of adjusting to post-pandemic norms have affected workers’ mental health, and managers can influence how this plays out for their direct reports, according to recent findings.
Unfortunately, the pressure may cause some managers to follow outdated approaches, such as trying to get direct reports to do something, rather than helping them to accomplish and do their best work. On the flip side, when given tools for coaching, managers — especially those for whom good management skills don’t come naturally — can excel, researchers have said. In particular, with training, managers can learn productive behaviors, such as checking in with their direct reports’ emotional state, keeping track of their goals and offering constructive feedback.
The Monster.com survey highlights another crack in employer efforts to acquire and retain talent: faulty hiring practices.
For example, although speed is key for job candidates, hiring managers estimated earlier this year that it was taking about 11 weeks to fill a vacant role; many talent acquisition leaders have said 60 days is the standard.
Talent may also be deterred from pursuing opportunities with an employer known for being deceitful, yet recruiters aren’t always honest with job seekers, according to a recent ResumeBuilder survey.
Nearly four in 10 recruiters who responded to the survey said they’ve lied during the hiring process, while three-quarters admitted lying during an interview, and more than half said they lied in the job description, ResumeBuilder said. Topics most frequently lied about included the job’s responsibilities and growth opportunities and career development at the company, according to the survey. But lying isn’t likely to produce desired results. More than half of the recruiters said employees have quit within a month after being hired and discovering they were lied to.
HR professionals may also want to note other “red flag” hiring practices cited by the Monster.com respondents: Mandatory assignments during a job interview and manual re-entry of information already provided on their resume.
