According to a survey conducted by jobs.lu, 44% of employees say they have resigned at some point because of a bad relationship with their manager, and only 30% trust their manager.
In the second half of 2020, jobs.lu wanted to gain a better understanding of the perceptions and expectations that employees and managers have of each other. With this in mind, the country’s leading digital recruitment platform surveyed 470 employees and managers for their views.
In particular, the survey found that 44% of employees surveyed said they had resigned because of a poor relationship with their manager. Eighteen percent of respondents also said that they had asked to switch teams within their company for a similar reason.
Only one in three employees trusts their manager
“This survey shows that the relationship between a manager and his or her team members is crucial to the professional development of each individual and to the retention of employees”, explains Arthur Meulman, General Manager of jobs.lu. Now, only one in two employees (48%) say they feel confident to discuss work-related problems with their manager. One in three (30%) say they trust their manager
The importance of a clear job description and performance indicators
Beyond this, jobs.lu wanted to identify the factors that help a good relationship with employees. Among them, we can mention:
- a clear and well-defined job description (important to 58% of employees)
- setting up a learning and development program (50%)
- the definition of a clear set of performance indicators and targets (49%)
“These results show that the relationship must be based on a set of objective criteria that establish from the outset the expectations of each party and around which there can be a constructive exchange“, notes Arthur Meulman. “This is a prerequisite for developing trust between managers and employees and for creating a professional environment and relationships that everyone finds fulfilling.”
Training managers in team management
Beyond these findings, the survey also highlights the importance of a manager’s communication skills and the need to provide regular feedback in building good relationships. “It is essential that managers acquire specific skills to support teams and help employees on a daily basis,” Arthur Meulman adds. “Yet our survey shows that a third of team leaders (31%) say that they have never received any training related to their management role.”
26% withdrew their application because of the recruiter’s behaviour.
The relationship between managers and employees is also a key criterion for job applicants. Indeed, the survey reveals that the behaviour of the interviewer in the context of recruitment prompted 26% of respondents to withdraw their application. In this context, it was generally disrespectful behaviour that is mentioned (9%) or illegal questions (58%) about the candidate’s age or the prospect of having children.
Methodology
As part of its “Employee-Manager Relations” survey, jobs.lu submitted a questionnaire on employee-manager relations to a sample of employees and managers working in Luxembourg.
The themes addressed in the questionnaire were the expectations and experiences of each individual with regard to industrial relations and the impact of the management of the pandemic on these relations.
The questionnaire, which was available in English and French, was completed on Friday, 13 August 2021 by 470 participants, including 313 employees. The data collected are intended to give a snapshot of the situation experienced by Luxembourg employees and managers. These data refer to the situation that applied when the survey was taken. Our analysts screened the results to ensure that the respondents’ answers were valid and were represented correctly.
About jobs.lu
Launched in January 2007, jobs.lu has established itself as one of the leading digital recruitment platforms on the Luxembourg market. A high-quality service offering to recruiters and candidates, coupled with in-depth knowledge of the market, makes jobs.lu the standard-setter for online recruitment in Luxembourg. Since November 2013, jobs.lu has been part of StepStone (itself part of the German group Axel Springer SE). StepStone offers recruitment solutions to its clients in Luxembourg and in more than 130 countries around the world. With a local and multilingual team, jobs.lu enables local companies to find the right candidates at the right time, so the candidates can find their ideal job in Luxembourg.
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