Most people managers would prefer not to manage people

More than two-thirds of managers would rather not be managers at all, according to a YouGov survey commissioned by SafetyCulture. According to the poll, 69 percent of team leaders in frontline sectors across the UK and Ireland would prefer not to manage people if there was no impact to their salary or benefits. Younger generations are the least willing to be managers. Nearly three-quarters of Generation Z and Millennial managers (73 percent) say they’d rather be individual workers compared to 65 percent of people aged 50 or older.

Researchers found the main reason for reluctance towards people management was that it’s emotionally draining (79 percent). Three-quarters of managers (74 percent) say that their staff don’t see or understand the hidden workload they manage. They also cite performing thankless and invisible tasks, such as correcting others’ errors (51 percent) and briefing, mentoring and reviewing their team’s work.

The YouGov study found that managers’ top source of frustration in their role was “unrealistic expectations from leadership”, closely followed by “not having the right tools and resources”.

Ronan Kirby, SafetyCulture’s Managing Director, EMEA, said: “Business leaders may have heard of ‘conscious unbossing’ as a workplace trend among Gen Z, but we’ve found the attitude is far more widely spread and deeply rooted.

“What managers are indicating is a serious operational issue. When fewer people want to take on management roles, there’s a weaker pipeline of future business leaders. It can have wide-ranging impacts – everything from costly vacancies which take longer to fill, to quality and safety risks across the business.”

Kirby added: “When managers are given the right leadership support – and their teams are empowered with the right tools – engagement increases across the board. And ultimately, a more confident, capable workforce improves productivity and profitability.”

If there is a silver lining for managers, it’s that more than half (54 percent) still think the benefits of being a manager outweigh the challenges.

Read more in the Feedback from the Field report.