Allow Employees to Rate Managers for Stress-Free Performance: Study
A new British research study suggests that employees being allowed to rate the performance of their managers can help improve day to day functioning and bring down the stress levels of workers.
The study, which was recently presented at the British Psychological Society’s Division of Occupational Psychology Annual Conference, focused on the relationship between workers and managers, a common cause of work-related stress.
Researchers asked 150 managers to rate their own management style even as 500 employees were marking them on the same pointers. Two groups of managers were formed - the first group was trained and/or received feedback, while the second group was not given any feedback on their management skills. The training and feedback given to the managers was related to management attitudes that were key to preventing and reducing stress at the workplace.
It was seen that managers receiving feedback from their staff were more likely to transform their management behaviour and thus became more effective line managers.
However, managers with no access to employees’ feedback were more likely to continue in their old style of management. Thus, the importance of feedback in bringing about a change in the management approach was recognised.
The study also spelled out what effective behaviour could mean in management terms. The capability to control one’s own emotions, having integrity, managing and communicating current and future work, empathetic management of team members and efficient management in times of conflict, were all noted as effective behaviours.
Lead researcher Emma Donaldson-Feilder and colleagues are now busy creating tools that would help business effectively manage operations. These tools include a questionnaire for workers to rate their managers along with learning materials for managers. These will be available on the website of the Heath and Safety Executive (HSE) later this year.
The HSE, the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), and Investors in People funded the study.
