My topic is The Future of Engagement, but I start with the present, where employee engagement is pretty horrible. How horrible? Very horrible. And why? Bad bosses.
Only 21% feel appreciated at work, and 49% are not satisfied with their direct supervisor [1]
An Aarhus University study [2] found strong correlation between worker depression and the sense of being treated unfairly by immediate supervisors.
Bad management is cited by over a third as the reason they’d quit a job [3] and rate their boss’ performance as poor or fair.
60% percent of employees believe bad bosses (those who are demanding, overbearing, and mean) have the greatest negative impact on work-life balance [4]
Research by Jack Zenger and Joseph Folkman has shown [5] a straight line correlation between levels of employee engagement and our measure of the overall effectiveness of their supervisors (as judged not just by the employees themselves but by their bosses, colleagues, and other associates on 360 assessments).