Corporate Leaders With Failing Grades

Park (42) is a manager at a large chemical company. Although he has been working for the company for 14 years, he occasionally thought about resigning. He confided “In a rapidly changing environment, we are up ears with work. We have to analyze the market and rivals. Under these circumstances, boss’ judgment and leadership is critical. I am sick of my seniors who give me impossible orders. They are only preoccupied with in-house politics, neglecting their responsibilities.”

The Dong-A Ilbo and the Commerce, Industry and Energy Ministry along with LG Economic Research Institute (LGERI) and JobKorea, an online recruitment company, conducted a survey on Jan. 24 of 843 employees working for Korean companies and foreign companies in Korea. As a result, the surveyed gave less than 45 out of 100 points to their bosses for their leadership, a de facto failing grade.

Experts on organization management stress that an organization that has many managerial-level employees with weak leadership is likely to experience low employee morale and efficiency and a high turnover.

○ Low Rank, Unhappy Employees

Kim, who had worked as a program developer for a medium-sized IT company resigned two years ago with three of his co-workers. He couldn’t bear his boss’ pressure to abide by his working style.

There is a rumor that there are three factors that are hard to satisfy; annual salary, a spouse and seniors at work, meaning the employees cannot bear the severe stress from their seniors.

The survey was carried out with 741 employees working for major domestic corporations and with 102 working for foreign companies. The surveyed were in their 20s to 50s.

The boss’ leadership tallied average 44.1 out of 100 points.

Gender and types of work did not affect the result much but the satisfactory level differed highly depending on the position.

The satisfactory level jumped as the employees got promoted. Assistant managers and section chiefs gave out 40.8 points for their boss’ leadership while managers and deputy managers earned 46.8; team leaders and general managers gained 48.7 and executives earned 54.5.

In domestic companies, satisfaction rates were 42.1, lower than the average, as opposed to that of foreign companies at 55.1.

Employees at Korean companies cited reasons for low satisfaction as lack of screening and verification for quality at the point of hiring (26 percent), inappropriate leadership fostering system (22 percent), lack of proper evaluation and measurement (15 percent), leadership shaped by in-house politics and vertical decision making process (12 percent).

○ “I Don’t Want To Work With the Current Boss Again”

Asked if they are willing to work with the current boss again, two out of three employees in the domestic firms said no, giving 39.5 points.

The figure for foreign companies was 15.6 points higher than Korean companies posting 55.1 percent.

Top 25 percent group recorded 70.7 points in satisfaction with their work and work immersion. Bottom 25 percent, on the other hand, recorded only 38.4. About 83 percent in the bottom 25 percent bracket said they had considered changing their jobs over the past one year.

Kim Hyeon-ki, a senior researcher of LGERI, explained “The result shows that organizational development and stability can post a huge difference in accordance with the companies’ effort to enhance leadership development.”

○ “Creative and Sentimental Managerial-Level Employees Needed”

In the survey, 43 percent workers described their boss’ behaviors as “performance-oriented” whereas 33 percent of them viewed as “relationship-oriented.”

The surveyed wanted their boss to play a role as a ‘Creative & Emotional Leader,’ meaning they want a leader who values “relationship” and “innovation” rather than “performance” and “control.”

Researcher Roh Yong-jin at LGERI stressed, “Fortification of leadership education in Korean companies is needed. But they must put all-out effort to secure good relations with their seniors.”