The keys to keeping and developing good staff

Delegation, open responsive management and managers with greater assertiveness, emotional intelligence and self-confidence are the keys for businesses wanting to keep and develop good staff.

These are the findings of research by Robert Myatt of Kaisen Consulting to be reported at the British Psychological Society’s Division of Occupational Psychology Annual Conference. The conference, sponsored by Pearn Kandola, is being held at the Chesford Grange Hotel, just outside the town of Warwick.

His study looked at 250 employees in 21 different organisations, using a 360 degree survey which collected information from bosses and colleagues as well as direct reports. It found that;

• Delegation was the most the single common development need across all managerial levels (47% of people). This finding may go some way to explaining reports that UK business are less productive than those abroad as managers who are unwilling to fully entrust work to others and empower people will be less efficient.
• Approximately half of senior managers need to develop listening skills and openness to others feelings (i.e. emotional intelligence). This was rated more frequently as a need than commercial and strategic thinking and decisiveness.
• Managers need to develop greater assertiveness, emotional intelligence and self confidence

Further analyses found differences between needs for men and women. Men primarily needed to develop in terms of engaging with others by communicating and sharing information. They also were more likely than women to need training in broader business awareness. Women were most likely to need assertiveness and self confidence. Overall, the findings have important implications for organisations trying to compete in a global market.