IT departments should do more to energise their frontline
managers, according to a survey by the Chartered Management
Institute and recruitment company Adecco.
Some 1,600 responses came from CMI members across all departments
and industries who took part in the study into managers' energy
levels and job flexibility.
The survey found that managers are running on empty, with half of
respondents claiming they had too much work to do, and one-fifth
saying they worked more than 14 hours a week above their contracted
hours.
Half of the respondents admitted to missing social or family
commitments because of work, and more than a third said they had no
energy to do anything else but work on weekday evenings.
Although part-time working and temporary staff are commonplace,
compressed working weeks, annualised hours, sabbaticals and career
breaks are much less common but high in demand from managers. Less
than 10% were optimistic that such forms of working would be
introduced within three years.
Many managers want to feel empowered but one-third said their firms
are too bureaucratic and reactive and do not allow them to help set
the agenda.
Less than 50% of managers feel their managing director has a clear
vision for the company, leading to uncertainty across the company's
staff and managers.
Adecco managing director Richard Macmillan said, "We have a
workforce that works harder than any EU country and managers want
new flexible working practices to enable them to work more
efficiently."