Two-thirds of manufacturing managers would rather ‘pass’

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Nearly two-thirds of managers working in manufacturing would rather not be managers at all, according to YouGov research commissioned by workplace operations platform SafetyCulture. 65% of team leaders in the manufacturing sector in the UK and Ireland would prefer not to manage people if there was no impact to their salary or benefits. Younger generations are the least willing to be managers. Nearly three-quarters (73%) of 18- to 34-year-old managers say they would rather be individual workers compared to 63% of people aged 50 or older. Researchers found the main reason for reluctance towards people management was that it is emotionally draining (76%).

Ronan Kirby, SafetyCulture’s managing director (EMEA), said: “Manufacturing leaders may have heard of ‘conscious unbossing’ as a workplace trend among Gen Z, but we have found the attitude is far more widely spread and deeply rooted. What managers are indicating is a serious operational issue for manufacturers. When fewer people want to take on management roles, there is a weaker pipeline of future leaders. It can have wide-ranging impacts — everything from costly vacancies which take longer to fill, to quality and safety risks on the shopfloor.

Three-quarters of managers (74%) say that their staff do not see or understand the hidden workload they manage. They also cite performing thankless and invisible tasks, such as correcting others’ errors (51%) and briefing, mentoring and reviewing their team’s work. The YouGov study found that managers’ top source of frustration in their role was ‘unrealistic expectations from leadership’, closely followed by ‘not having the right tools and resources‘.

Mr Kirby added: “But when managers are given the right leadership support — and their teams are empowered with the right tools — engagement increases across the board; and ultimately, a more confident, capable workforce improves productivity and profitability.”

If there is a silver lining for managers, it is that more than half (54%) still think the benefits of being a manager outweigh the challenges.