Trustworthiness and Openness jumps dramatically to top characteristic of a good manager

In what is seen as a dramatic change in attitudes from a year ago, employees think trustworthiness and openness is now the most important characteristic of a good manager.

Compared to this time last year, trustworthiness and openness has jumped from seventh to number one on the Top Ten Characteristics of a Good Manager list generated by Leadership Management Australasia (LMA).

The list has been drawn from the latest L.E.A.D. (Leadership, Employment and Direction) Survey of more than 3,000 employees across Australia and New Zealand, (14 per cent of the respondents were from New Zealand yielding the same results).

LMA's Managing Director, Grant Sexton said what employees expect of their managers has changed dramatically over the past year. A new number one characteristic and some major changes in the Top Ten present managers with new challenges in fulfilling the needs and expectations of their employees.

While having managers who clearly communicate about the future remains important at equal second, the number one characteristic of good managers is now being trustworthy and open in their approach, he said.

"Clearly, if organisations want to improve the performance and productivity of their business they must foster trust and embrace openness in their workplace," he said.

"Employees, frustrated with the extended period of lack of appreciation in their efforts and sacrifices to support their company through the difficulties of the GFC, are expecting managers to step up with a truthful and honest approach to what the future holds.

"Employees are increasingly looking to their managers to be worthy of their trust, and open in their approach to management. Also, this means managers need to demonstrate to employees that they are willing to listen to employees and their input in order to earn their trust," Mr Sexton said.

This new perspective on the characteristics of a good manager is echoed in the growing importance of managers giving their people the space to do their work and supporting them at the same time (up from 5th to equal 2nd), and providing the resources employees need to do their job (up from equal 11th to equal 7th).

Mr Sexton said the underlying message is managers have to re-earn the trust they lost due to their organisation's delayed and protracted return to pre-GFC conditions.

"To re-earn their employees trust, managers will increasingly need to allow their employees the space to manage their own work, provide the necessary support and resources to do so, and be willing to provide feedback and recognition regularly," he said. "Furthermore, it is essential that managers fulfil their promises and 'walk the talk'".

The foundation of effective relationships and high performance working environments is trust – managers, through their management style, must therefore be seeking to develop an open environment which encourages trust in them by their employees, said Mr Sexton. Employees have clearly indicated that this type of management approach will induce a positive influence on their performance at work. Employees have indicated a willingness to perform so long as they have appropriate resources, support and feedback from their managers.

Top 10 Characteristics of a Good Manager from the complete surveyed list, including comparisons from the previous L.E.A.D. Survey in November 2009 are:

Characteristics of Good Managers – November 2010

Results

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