maritz poll/Maritz Poll: Will Poor Managers Harm Companies by Fostering Bad Customer Experience?

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Maritz Poll: Will Poor Managers Harm Companies by Fostering Bad Customer Experience?

For more information, please contact:

Jennifer Larsen, Maritz Inc., 636-827-1523, jennifer.larsen@maritz.com
Beth Rusert, Maritz Inc., 636-827-2949, beth.rusert@maritz.com

WILL POOR MANAGERS HARM COMPANIES BY FOSTERING BAD CUSTOMER EXPERIENCES?
Maritz Poll Identifies Six Supervisor Personality Profiles and Reveals Their Impact on Employee Engagement and Customer Satisfaction

ST. LOUIS (October 10, 2007) – Hard-driving bosses may appear to successfully impact the bottom line. However, it is actually supervisors who are honest, caring, cheerful, generous and flexible that do the best job motivating employees to deliver great service and therefore create greater customer loyalty, according to a new Maritz® Poll conducted by Maritz Research, a leader in both customer and employee research.

“Employees working for supervisors in what I call the Caring Mentor category rate their companies best on having a strong customer focus,” according to Rick Garlick, Ph.D., director of consulting and strategic implementation, Maritz Research. “Also, employees that serve under this type of manager have the strongest affinity for customers and believe that their company does an outstanding job at serving its customers. Employees really are the key to creating a great customer experience, as well as customer satisfaction and loyalty.”

Furthermore, according to Garlick, Caring Mentors are highly relational and greatly appreciated by direct reports. They are not perceived as particularly task driven, nor are they controlling, tough or ruthless. They are knowledgeable and act consistently. People are their most important priority at the workplace.

YOU’RE FIRED
The least effective supervisor type, which could be categorized as Win-At-Any-Cost, is seen as tough, controlling and ruthless as well as being extremely Machiavellian in that “the ends justify the means.” They are perceived as inconsistent and clueless, and it is unlikely that these individuals would care about others while doing what they think needs to be done. These managers breed dissatisfaction and disloyalty. Nearly one in five people (19 percent) directly report to this type of supervisor, and more than 70 percent (71 percent) of respondents with this controlling and ruthless supervisor would fire them if they could. Overall, nearly two out of 10 respondents (18 percent) would fire their boss if given the opportunity.

“Not only are these managers poor at motivating their employees, but those who work for this type of supervisor have some of the poorest attitudes toward their companies’ customers” said Garlick.

DRIVEN, BUT IN THE WRONG THE DIRECTION
Another supervisor type that isn’t adept at creating customer satisfaction and retention is the Taskmaster/Taskmistress. This supervisor is tough, controlling and task driven, yet differs from the Win-At-Any-Cost leader in their competence and ethics. Productivity and achieving results is the focus of this boss, but study results show that they are not particularly effective and do not rank high in customer service competencies. This is a less common supervisor type, with only 10 percent of respondents with bosses in this category.

AT A GLANCE: HIGHLIGHTS FOR EACH SUPERVISOR TYPE

  • Caring Mentors (26 percent of employees have this type of supervisor)

    • This manager is highly relational and greatly appreciated by direct reports. They genuinely care about their people. They are cheerful, generous, friendly, and flexible. People are their most important priority at the workplace.
    • While some might fear that being too ‘caring’ about employees is a negative for a manager, it is clear that this type of supervisor facilitates the most satisfied and committed employees.
    • Employees that serve under this type of manager have the strongest affinity for customers. Employees under this type of manager rate their companies best on having a strong customer focus.
    • Employees serving under this type of manager are the most likely to stay with the company long term, as well as the most likely to recommend it to others.

  • Respectable Professional (29 percent of employees have this type of boss)

    • The most common supervisor type falls under the Respectable Professional category, with nearly three out of 10 respondents (29 percent) working for this type of supervisor.
    • While not the most effective boss type, the Respectable Professional does garner positive reviews from most respondents.
    • This boss is highly task driven and conducts business operations without a great deal of personal involvement, but employees view them with respect, while identifying attributes such as honesty and reliability.
    • Only 4 percent of those with this supervisor type would fire him or her if they could.

  • Win-At-Any-Cost (19 percent of employees have this type of supervisor)

    • These supervisors are tough, controlling and ruthless. Worse yet, they are not seen as honest, ethical or intelligent by their direct reports.
    • Direct reports do not indicate respect for these bosses, seeing them as ‘inconsistent’ and ‘clueless’.
    • Not surprisingly, these managers have the lowest employee engagement among all supervisor types. They are seen as being strictly out for themselves.
    • Seventy-one percent with this supervisor would fire him or her if they could.

  • Taskmaster/Taskmistress (10 percent of employees have this type of supervisor)

    • This boss is tough, controlling and task-driven. However, unlike the Win-At-All-Costs manager, the Taskmaster rates higher on both ethics and competence.
    • This is a ‘Type A’ personality; not cheerful or peaceful, but more focused on achieving goals. Driving productivity is a top priority for this manager.
    • This supervisor isn’t seen as particularly effective or ineffective. They are preferred to the Win-at Any Cost manager but certainly don’t engender much in the way of employee loyalty. Their direct reports see them ‘in the middle’ with respect to how they serve customers. In short, people don’t ‘hate’ them as much, but don’t particularly respond to their leadership style either.
    • Interestingly, only 18 percent would fire these bosses if they could.

  • Likeable Loser (9 percent of employees have this type of supervisor)

    • Although wholesome and charming, the Likeable Loser is viewed as incompetent, inconsistent and clueless.
    • Employees simply do not respect this supervisor type, and ratings are midrange, similar to those who report to a Taskmaster/Taskmistress.

  • Glad Handler (7 percent of employees have this type of boss)

    • The Glad Handler is a friendlier version of the Win-At-Any-Cost manager, but is still rated the second worst type of manager.
    • Despite being friendly and flexible, they are recognized as dishonest, unreliable, clueless and uncaring.
    • Their approach to business is more ingratiating than the Win-At-Any-Cost and Taskmaster/Taskmistress individuals, but they are just as ineffective as these two types.

 EDITOR’S NOTE: Rick Garlick, Maritz Research’s director of consulting and strategic implementation, is available for interviews regarding the study’s findings and other employee engagement and customer experience topics, including:

  • The important role direct supervisors and managers play in the customer experience.
  • The best ways to engage and motivate employees to impact the customer experience.

 About Maritz® Poll
Maritz® Poll is a national consumer opinion survey conducted periodically by Maritz Research. This recent online Maritz Poll surveyed more than 1,300 randomly selected adults throughout the United States who work fulltime and more than 30 hours a week about various workplace, corporate leadership and employee/management relationship issues. Sampling error for the poll is +/-3 percent.

About Maritz Inc.
Founded in 1894, Maritz Inc. is a sales and marketing services company, which helps companies achieve their full potential through understanding, enabling, and motivating employees, channel partners, and customers. Maritz provides market and customer research, communications, learning solutions, incentive initiatives, meetings and event management, rewards and recognition, travel management services, and customer loyalty programs.

For more information, visit or contact us at 1-877-4MARITZ.