Kenexa Research Finds What Good Managers Mean To Employees

Research conducted by the Kenexa Research Institute (KRI), a division of Kenexa(R) (NASDAQ: KNXA), a global provider of business solutions for human resources, revealed results of its employee opinion study for the GCC. According to the latest research, an immediate manager has more influence on employees beyond their role as delegator, evaluator and motivator. The results suggest that an employee's view of his/her immediate manager has a significant impact on his/her engagement level and overall opinion of the company. The data come from an analysis of the WorkTrends(TM) database, an annual survey of worker opinions conducted by KRI.

The latest results from the study indicate that 57% of subordinate employees in the GCC rate their managers as effective. Kuwait (62%) reported the highest rating of managerial effectiveness, followed by Bahrain and Qatar (58%), Oman (56%), the United Arab Emirates (55%) and Saudi Arabia (54%). Employees' evaluations of their manager are driven by the extent to which the manager displays the fundamentals of managerial competence: doing a good job at managing the team's work and the team itself, and being perceived as a leader.

For employees in the GCC, an effective manager treats employees fairly, evaluates employees' performance fairly, makes use of employees' ideas, solves problems quickly and practices open, two-way communication.

For all workers studied, good managers have a significant impact on the workers' employee engagement levels. Employee engagement is the extent to which employees are motivated to contribute to organizational success, and are willing to apply discretionary efforts to accomplishing tasks important to the achievement of organizational goals. Engaged employees favourably rate pride in their organization, willingness to recommend it as a place to work and their overall job satisfaction.

Additionally, those employees who are satisfied with their manager state a much higher intention to stay with the organization versus those who are dissatisfied. Those who rate their managers as good also feel they have a promising future with the company and have confidence in the organization's future.

"Effective managers are respectful, considerate and fair, as well as good organizers who can clearly communicate work expectations and provide feedback. While this is easy to grasp conceptually, many managers struggle with implementation but for those who get it, there are large benefits," said Vernon Bryce, Managing Partner Kenexa Middle East, based in DIFC Dubai.(C) 2009 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)

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