According to a survey of 2,000 employees by the Chartered Management Institute (CMI), more than half (55 per cent) do not think their manager exhibits the right level of confidence or possesses sufficient ability to do the job.

Just 38 per cent of employees report that their boss thinks he or she is good at what they do.

Nearly three quarters of workers (74 per cent) are forced to take decisions at work they don’t feel trained or qualified to make.

Additionally, the figures show that almost four in ten employees (39 per cent) feel their boss’s behaviour increases stress levels, just over a third (34 per cent) complain that their boss negatively affects enjoyment of their job and one in ten blame their boss for declining health.

The results mirror the CMI’s latest Economic Outlook survey which reveals that 70 per cent of managers report a drop in morale over the past six months.

One of the biggest concerns highlighted in the survey is that employees feel their bosses are unapproachable. In the past month nearly two thirds (61 per cent) have wanted to ask their boss for help making a decision, but have not been given the opportunity.

The lack of support results in nearly one in four (23 per cent) regularly worrying about making decisions at work, one in three (32 per cent) losing respect for their manager and 10 per cent covering up mistakes that they have made.

Ruth Spellman, CMI chief executive says, ‘Today’s results prove that managers must do more to meet their team’s 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.’

Bad managers cause workers to quit jobs

Almost half of workers have quit their jobs due to bad management, figures from Chartered Management Institute (CMI) reveal.

Of 3,000 workers surveyed, 50 per cent assert that they could do a better job than their current manager, while 49 per cent would be prepared to take a pay cut if it meant working with a better boss.

Ruth Spellman, chief executive of the CMI, says: ‘The figures reveal the depth of the crisis of confidence in UK management and leadership, and the enormous toll bad management is taking on the UK economy and people’s wellbeing.’

In a separate survey of managers, two in five said they did not want the responsibility of managing people, while 63 per cent had received no management training. Of the 1,656 surveyed, only 28 per cent of managers said they held any type of formal management qualification.

Adds Spellman: ‘It’s telling that the majority of individuals never set out to manage people, and have not been trained to do so. If we’re going to stay competitive internationally, the government and employers need to address this worrying skills gap.’