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The survey of 2,000 employees across the UK showed that 55% do not think their managers show the right levels of confidence or possess sufficient ability to do their jobs. A lack of effective management and leadership is leading to a “downbeat” attitude in the workplace, the report said.

Two out of five of those questioned said their boss’ behaviour increased stress levels, a third complained that their manager negatively affected enjoyment of their job, and one in 10 blamed a manager for declining health. One of the biggest concerns was that employees felt their bosses were unapproachable, with two-thirds saying they wanted to ask their boss for help making a decision recently but had not been given the opportunity.

Ruth Spellman, chief executive of the CMI, said: “The results prove that managers must do more to meet their teams’ needs, if UK plc is to thrive. “It is key that managers demonstrate both competence and confidence in their role if they are to make certain their teams are engaged and reaching their full potential. “An engaged workforce means more commitment and higher productivity levels, not to mention lower levels of absenteeism and staff turnover. “However, to engage employees, we need managers who are fully committed to supporting their teams to meet their organisation’s objectives.”

Do your managers and Leaders have the tools to do their jobs ?

A new book offers practical lessons for leaders in today’s challenging environment.

What type of organisation do leaders need to create in order to meet the challenges they face in these tough economic times? What does it mean to be the person sitting where the buck stops? 

A new book from Emerald Group Publishing, Leading in Turbulent Times – Lessons Learnt and Implications for the Future is written by respected business academic Peter Lorange, who shares what he has learnt about leadership during turbulent times, and in particular, the key insights that emerged from some of the most challenging moments in his career.

For much of his business life, Peter Lorange has had three careers running in parallel – as a business academic leading some of the most important business schools in the world, as the head of a shipping company and as a Board member for several multinational companies. Drawing on his own experiences and those of other CEOs interviewed especially for this book, Peter identifies four leadership characteristics essential in turbulent times, and the three leadership tasks that are critical to an organization under stress.

Peter comments, “The book is written for academic colleagues as well as for business leaders. The focus is to stress key learning insights regarding leadership that might be relevant to this dual target group – and as much as possible give relevant examples”.