Findings from a recently released report by a leading expert in leadership and development show nearly half of board level staff, 45.6%, consider the employee pipeline to be ‘endless’ and that ‘for everyone who leaves, someone as good or better comes through the door’.
Furthermore, the report also revealed that 13.2% of board members regard employees as a ‘necessary evil.’
The research, conducted by Morgan Redwood, a leading expert in leadership development, is based on responses from the heads of human resource departments or board director level from over 250 businesses. These have been drawn from across the UK and from a mix of sectors and a range of company sizes, with two thirds employing over 250 people, and none less than 50.
Janice Haddon, MD of Morgan Redwood, said: “Considering that the key business decisions tend to be made at board director level, the fact that such a large percentage consider staff to be a ‘necessary evil’ is a startling outcome. Combined with the fact that the employee pipeline is regarded as endless, do findings suggest a disconnection with the wider workforce?”
Along with looking at board level, the study also questioned senior management in regard to their thoughts on the wider workforce. This found that 41.2% of senior staff believed employees to be ‘brand ambassadors’, whilst 39.6% identified them as ‘individuals to be nurtured’. However 22.4% did consider them to be an ‘easily replaced commodity’, tying in with much of the board directors’ attitude towards the employee pipeline.
Senior staff were also questioned about their management styles and whether they believed that their approach got the best out of the organisation’s workforce, to which 54.4% admitted that ‘no’ they didn’t think it did. However, a large proportion did feel that their methods worked, with 45.6% believing that their approach was the right one.
