London, UK 10th February 2020 – Over a third (36%) of UK employees say they have never had any contact with their CEO, according to international research from global software company Unit4. A similar figure, 31% have only received company-wide emails from them, making it clear that business leaders must do much more to engage the workforce. Over a third of UK respondents (38%) said they would feel uncomfortable approaching senior management to complain about something in the organisation.
The findings come from Unit4’s Decision Making for the Future Business Report which is based on interviews with employees across the world – UK, US, Germany, Sweden, Norway, Canada and Netherlands – to understand the commonalities and differences in their working practices as well as how critical decisions are made.
UK CEOs prove the most elusive of all nations surveyed. When comparing the state of play across countries, the UK questions the accessibility and motivation of CEOs:
There is also a disconnect between the shop floor and the top floor when it comes to CEO engagement.
Mike Ettling, CEO at Unit4, said: “Today we really have a new board member in companies across the world – the Chief Elusive Officer, the business leader who has not once engaged with their employees or sought to empower them to make decisions that impact the future of their organisation. This must change and it must change fast.”
“When CEOs are disconnected from their workforce, employees can be left feeling disengaged which can lead to much lower productivity at work and ultimately impact the bottom-line. A rigid, hierarchical business structure is simply no longer suitable for today’s workforce and CEOs need to change in order to lead more effectively.”
“This old-fashioned management mindset is no longer fit for today’s business and must be rejected in order to encourage the best asset a company has; its people. Perhaps a way to enable that is through the better use of technology so that employees can feel more engaged and empowered to make those decisions.”
Surprisingly, across the globe only 42% have met their CEO in a one-to-one situation. Globally, 5% of workers were so far removed from their own CEO, they didn’t even know if their CEO was a man or a woman.
Interestingly, executives also do not perceive the disconnect between leadership and their workforce. Globally nearly all (94%) think CEOs are performing well in their role, whereas only over a third (37%) of non-managers believe the head of their organisation is the right person for the job.
To find out more about why and how the workplace must evolve to accommodate the business of tomorrow, download the full report here.
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