The marketing industry is home to some of the UK’s worst bosses, with favouritism, poor people skills and unprofessional practice rife in the sector.
That is according to a study carried out by independent job site CV-Library, which found that 93.8% of people working in marketing have had a bad leader, one of the highest of any other sector in the UK.
The survey, which asked 1,200 UK workers about their experiences of leadership in the workplace, found that some of the worst traits of bad bosses in the marketing industry include: favouring certain employees (53.8%), poor people skills (38.5%), micromanaging (35.8%) and being unprofessional (30.8%).
Despite this, 87.5% of marketers stated that they enjoy following a leader although bad leadership can leave employees feeling de-motivated , according to 31.3% of marketers with a further 37.5% saying it results in little direction for employees.
CV-Library founder and managing director Lee Biggins said: “Bad management is often cited as the top reason for employees becoming stressed at work or worse still, leaving organisations altogether, so it’s no surprise that our findings highlight some of the repercussions that poor leadership can bring about for marketers.
“Workers want to feel supported in their day-to-day job, and often depend on a strong leader to look up to, approach if things get tough and rely on for help on a daily basis. Organisations that don’t promote best practice when it comes to leadership will inevitably bear the brunt when it comes to talent retention.”
According to the study, a whopping 87.5% of employees working in the marketing industry believe that they could make a good leader, higher than the national average and many other sectors in the UK. The key reasons cited are good communication skills (35.7%) and confidence (21.4%), while they also claim they are good at motivating (21.4%) and managing people (14.3%).
Biggins continued: “Marketers clearly understand some of the key attributes that are needed to be an excellent leader, having experienced firsthand some of the best and worst traits that bosses possess. Furthermore, workers in this industry are naturally great communicators: one of the top traits needed to be a good boss! Finding great leaders can be hard, and businesses should look to develop employees that demonstrate the passion, drive and behaviour that is needed to drive organisations forward in 2017 and beyond.”
The research found that the best leadership qualities, according to marketing professionals, were: confidence (20.8%), integrity (16.7%), transparency (12.5%), positivity (10.4%), open mindedness (8.3%) and honesty (2.1%).
