Most workers blame their boss for quitting

Eric Beauchesne
CanWest News Service
Calgary Herald
Tuesday, November 06, 2007

Blame the boss. That's what most Canadian workers do when they quit their job, according to survey released yesterday by an online employment agency.

With shortages of skilled workers on the rise and with the tight labor market expected to get even tighter as baby boomers hit retirement age, companies cannot afford to lose employees. As a result, firms and their managers may want to review what workers like and don't like in a boss, results of the survey by Monster Canada suggests.

And what they like, according to the survey, is a boss who is fair, who respects the rights of workers and is not a bully.

Of the 2,687 Canadians who responded to the online poll, as many as 80 per cent of quitters blamed their boss for their decision. Thirty-two per cent claimed their boss "did not treat people fairly," another 28 per cent said their manager "ruled by intimidation and fear," and 24 per cent said the boss "did not respect the rights of employees."

Only 16 per cent claimed to have quit a job for reasons unrelated to the boss.

"There is no doubt that bosses typically are seen as the primary reason for people either loving or leaving their jobs and in today's tight labour market, it's more important than ever for companies to realize this as they compete for the best people,"said Gabriel Bouchard, Monster Canada's vice-president and general manager.

Another survey of 2,636 workers by the employment agency -- which asked: "What should your boss do to be a better leader?" --found that 35 per cent said their current boss should "set clearer expectations and provide constructive feedback." Twenty-seven per cent said their boss needs to "admit when a mistake is made instead of blaming others," 22 per cent that their boss needs to become "more accessible and open to communicating," and 16 per cent that their boss should "listen to employees more" on the job.

"It's a job-seeker's market and it's just going to get better for job candidates moving forward, which means that they are going to be a lot less patient with bad bosses," Bouchard said.
However, bosses are more challenged than ever, Bouchard added, explaining that they are having to deal with multiple generations and multiple cultures in the workplace.

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