All companies need strong manager figures with top leadership traits to help shape the future success of the business. Measurable growth depends on these managers to help organise and structure successful teams in the company. As such, there are certain traits that all managers should have to ensure that they are a strong leadership figure.
On the other hand, poor management can lead to dire consequences for a business; ensuring that there are strong leaders in management positions is imperative to a successful company.
With this in mind, CV-Library questioned over 1,200 UK workers to find out the traits that they feel all strong leaders need.
Discover the top 10 leadership traits
UK workers laid out what they felt were the most important leadership qualities in the workplace. With 76.2% of workers stating that they enjoy following a leader, it should come as no surprise that confidence was the most sought after leadership attribute – with 50.4% of respondents highlighting its importance.
Confidence rated extremely highly amongst the younger generation of workers, with 64.7% of 18-24-year-olds deeming it the most desired leadership trait. For these young people who are just entering the workplace, it is extremely important for them to feel like they are working under a strong leader who can help guide them throughout the early stages of their career.
Following this was honesty (34.3%) and positivity (31.9%). With many employees feeling that poor communication and people skills are a leading trait of poor managers. Again it is unsurprising to see both being honest and positive rating highly for employees most sought after leadership traits. Interestingly, honesty was valued much more by the older generation of workers. Only 19% of 18-24-year-olds cited honesty as a sought after trait, compared to 42.6% of 55-64-year-olds.
Why it’s important
A good manager will likely result in a strong workforce. Therefore ensuring your management structure is showcasing these top leadership qualities is going to bring about a more productive employee base.
However, there are plenty of other pitfalls outside of productivity that a bad manager can bring about. From a lack of direction to damaging the company culture, a poor manager can leave a lasting impact on a business – for all the wrong reasons.
Perhaps one of the most costly and damaging results of poor management is a high turnover in staff. It’s fairly obvious, but with a poor manager in place, bringing about a stressful work atmosphere, the staff retention rate is going to be very low indeed. When queried about the impact of poor management, over one in 10 UK workers cited that people may leave as a result. This should be worrying for any company; losing your top staff as a result of poor management skills.
Read CV-Library’s full report here.
