30 Reasons Employees Hate Their Managers: What Your People May be Thinking and What You Can Do About it

Do employees hate their managers? Many do, says this research-based book, which describes 30 reasons for employee attitudes ranging from indifference to outright hatred of management. Among the reasons, these employees say: they are not treated like adults, with respect for their contributions; managers don't listen to them; senior managers are incompetent and run the company poorly; their pay isn't linked to their job performance and often it's unfair; they lack sufficient resources and training to do their jobs well; they don't trust information they receive from management; they get insufficient feedback on their work performance; they have such heavy workloads and inflexible schedules that they can't find a good balance of work and personal life.The author offers solutions, not just a litany of problems. He also describes some of the underlying psychological reasons for employee discontent (for example, equity theory, which explains why people react as they do to perceived unfairness). The material is based on Katcher's proprietary research in 65 organizations and surveys of more than 50,000 employees. It also includes many stories/examples.

Table of Contents:
Contents Foreword by Bob Gatti ix Acknowledgments xi Introduction 1 PART I Employees Are Treated Like Children 5 1. We feel like slaves. 7 2. I know how to do my job. Why can't they just let me do it? 17 3. I am afraid to speak up. 23 4. Nobody appreciates my hard work. 29 5. There are different rules for different people. 35 PART II. Employees Aren't Respected 41 6. Management doesn't listen to us. 43 7. Management doesn't respect us. 51 8. So who's in charge anyway? 57 9. I don't trust the information I receive from management. 61 10. My boss is a terrible manager. 67 PART III. Employees Aren't Receiving What They Really Need 73 11. I've lost confidence in management. 75 12. We're understaffed. 79 13. They don't tell me what I need to know to do my work. 85 14. We need more training. 89 15. The quality of our products and services is terrible. 95 16. I receive poor service from other departments. 101 17. There's too much red tape here. 107 18. Why don't they get rid of all of the deadwood around here? 113 19. There are too many damn meetings. 119 PART IV. Employees Feel Unappreciated 125 20. I'm not paid fairly. 127 21. It's just not right that we all receive the same pay. 133 22. My performance reviews are useless. 139 23. There's no link between my pay and job performance. 145 24. The cost of my benefits is eating up my paycheck. 153 25. It's impossible to get promoted here. 159 PART V. W-O-R-K Should Be More Than a Four-Letter Word 165 26 I hate coming in to work. It's become just a job for me now. 167 27. There's no job security here. 173 28. I've got no time for myself or my family. 177 29. I feel trapped. I wish I could go out on my own. 183 30. My company isn't committed to me, so why should I be committed to it? 189 Summary: What You Can Do 195 Epilogue: A Lesson from the Future 197 Recommended Readings 199 Index 203 About the Authors 207