Carried out by YouGov on behalf of payroll solutions provider, MHR, 67% of the 2,006 workers surveyed said “poor management or a poor manager has made them consider leaving a job,” with “58% having actually quit” as a result.

Citing “bullying, aggressive behaviours and micro-management” as poor management and managers as “inexperienced, out of their depth, lacking the necessary people skills, expressing favouritism, failing to offer recognition and feedback and failing to communicate effectively,” over half of hospitality and leisure employees (58%) believe “managers are not equipped to deal with the human or emotional side of management.”

They also said there is “a complete disregard or lack of awareness of issues surrounding mental health in the workplace” and a “failing to support employees suffering from anxiety or depression,” with “several respondents” admitting their “manager was directly responsible for causing the decline in their mental health.”

The findings compare to 80% of employees across all sectors who have experienced “what they consider poor management or a poor manager at some point” - 73% whom have considered quitting a job and 55% who have actually done so.

Service development director at MHR, Julie Lock, said: “The survey highlights a widespread failure in the way organisations prepare and train managers to take care of their staff effectively.

“While managers are commonly trained in company policy and may understand organisational processes and procedures like the back of their hand, most don’t possess the people skills required to handle the human aspect of management and receive no training for this, which, as the research illustrates, can have damaging and long-lasting repercussions when it comes to employee engagement, talent retention and wellbeing.

“Managers promoted from within often struggle to make the transition from being everyone’s friend to being the boss, while managers appointed from outside an organisation often arrive wanting to prove their managerial abilities, but find it difficult to balance demonstrating authority with wanting people to like them.

“Being a good people manager requires a very specific skillset, the right training and effective internal processes that drive employee engagement.

“The survey also exposes a worrying lack of awareness and understanding around mental health, with poor management sometimes directly responsible for causing mental health problems. This is unacceptable, and exposes a worrying trend that should make all chief executives sit up and take notice.

“Organisations need to focus on their duty of care for the health and wellbeing of their staff, including mental health.”