Loving your job is a worthwhile goal, but not always a practical reality. For Australian workers, it looks like one of the most common reasons for disliking work is a poor opinion of senior management.
Picture by Graeme Maclean
According to a survey of workplace engagement by research firm ORC International, Australians don’t have a particularly high level of engagement compared to other countries, and we’re slipping down the ranks. (The survey was based on responses from 9,246 workers worldwide, and was carried out in March this year.)
A key reason for this lack of engagement appears to be our belief that our managers don’t always do a great job. On this year’s survey, only 48 per cent of Australian respondents agreed that their organisation was well-managed. Last year, the number was 56 per cent. Similarly, only half agreed that there was a good relationship between management and employees.
Sometimes you have no choice but to put up with a bad boss, especially if alternative employment isn’t easy to come by. And disliking management doesn’t necessarily mean disliking your job: in the survey, 59 per cent of Australian responses said that they truly enjoyed the day-to-day aspects of their work (a similar level to other countries).
We also had better outcomes in the survey than other countries, such as the UK. But the message seems pretty clear: if our bosses suck, it dramatically affects our engagement with our job.
How has your experience of management, good or bad, affected your career enjoyment and choices? Share your survey in the comments.
Evolve is a weekly column at Lifehacker looking at trends and technologies IT workers need to know about to stay employed and improve their careers.
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