Expert highlights dangers of under-skilled managers

Date: 23rd May 2008

An expert in the field of management has highlighted the dangers associated with employing a manager with insufficient skills.

Professor Cary Cooper, a representative from the Lancaster University Management School, believes that skill-deficient managers operate in a manner which results in subordinate colleagues taking on too much work.

"What ends up happening is people get overloaded, they get more stressed, have more burnout, become less productive and deliver less to the bottom line," said Professor Cooper.

"If you look throughout the UK you are now finding stress-related sickness absence - and to a small business sickness absence is fundamental."

Professor Cooper also noted that within the UK, the leading cause of sickness-linked absence is now related to stress, which according to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) can negatively affect an employees overall productivity and performance.

The HSE also noted that stress can also affect levels of staff turnover.