Employees in HR, consulting, and tech report highest satisfaction with senior management
- New research reveals industries with the highest and lowest leadership approval ratings in the UK, according to employee reviews on Glassdoor
- Leaders in Human Resources have the highest proportion of staff enthusiastic about their leadership, with both HR & Staffing and HR Consulting in the top 2 for ratings above 4.5 stars (out of 5 stars)
- Sporting goods store employees are the least satisfied with their management teams with the highest proportion of workers scoring their senior management team 0-1 stars (8.11%)
- The North East & Cumbria revealed as the best UK region with 11.90% of companies receiving at least 4.5 stars in their Glassdoor senior management reviews
New research by Leadership Dynamics, a proprietary leadership analytics and evaluation platform powering The LCap Group, has shed light on which industries and areas in the UK have the highest and lowest leadership approval ratings according to their employee reviews on Glassdoor.
Research shows employees in Human Resources & Staffing are most likely to be extremely satisfied with their leadership teams, with 35.06% of all companies in this sector holding a 4.5 stars employee rating or higher for senior management, taking the top spot in the industry ranking.
HR Consulting comes second, with 22.7% of company leaders proving popular amongst staff. These results suggest that HR leaders possess a unique understanding of how to effectively lead and motivate their teams.
The top 10 industries in the UK with the highest proportion of 4.5 star ratings for senior management are:
- Human Resources & Staffing (35.06%)
- HR Consulting (22.70%)
- Internet & Web Services (17.79%)
- Enterprise Software & Network Solutions (17.01%)
- Information Technology (15.56%)
- Business Consulting (15.32%)
- Management & Consulting (15.27%)
- Advertising & Public Relations (14.88%)
- Information Technology Support Services (13.87%)
- Financial Transaction Processing (12.34%)
Reviewing the opposite end of the ranking, Sporting Goods Stores and Department, Clothing & Shoe Stores are at the bottom when it comes to favourable ratings – ratings above 4.5 stars being at 0.98% and 1.52% respectively. Sporting Goods Stores perform particularly badly, taking both first place for their high share of 0-1 star reviews (8.11%) and last place for 4.5+ star reviews (0.98%).
In fact, the study shows employees at Sporting Goods Stores are 8 times more likely to give a 0-1 star score than a score over 4.5 stars, with a large number of their disgruntled workers located in the South East and Wales.
Furthermore, industries involving manual labour, such as Building & Personnel Services, Agriculture, Taxi & Car Services and Security & Protective have seen significant dissatisfaction among their employees, with a high percentage of 0-1-star reviews.
Senior management teams within the public sector, including Primary & Secondary Schools, National Services & Agencies and Government & Public Administration also perform poorly with their low proportion of 4.5 star ratings and above.
Samuel Robberts, Chief Strategy Officer at Leadership Dynamics, commented: “Running a successful organisation goes beyond effective administration. Leaders establish the vision of the company and have the power to bring people along with them to achieve it. They drive change, resolve conflicts and inspire their workforce. And that workforce’s opinion of senior management is influenced by a confidence in their effectiveness and the environment they promote within the workplace.
Leadership teams can improve both their organisational effectiveness and their employee engagement at the same time, but first they need a clear and objective understanding of their strengths and areas for growth.
Using behavioural evaluation tools, like the PACE assessment, will help companies identify weaknesses in leadership teams and how to overcome these, whether it be via a new senior appointment or developing a new leadership development programme.”
Regionally, The North East & Cumbria stands out with the highest proportion (11.9%) of workers that are highly satisfied with their management teams. Similarly, London boasts the second-highest approval ratings (11.10%), primarily driven by industries such as HR & Staffing, HR & Consulting, and Enterprise Software & Network Solutions. The South West follows closely, displaying a similar trend with HR & Staffing and HR Consulting leading the charts.
Middlesbrough, a relatively small city in the North East, is the city with the highest leadership ratings (12.24%), reflecting the region’s industry rankings. London secures the second position (11.10%), while Bristol takes third place (8.79%) with a strong presence in HR, technology, and consulting sectors. Aberdeen, Scotland, takes last place for its low percentage of 4.5 star ratings (4.36%).
Looking outside of England, senior leaders in Northern Ireland inspire the least amount of enthusiasm; their organisations have the very lowest percentage of 4.5+ star scores at 5.24%. The same goes for leaders in Wales where only 5.88% of organisations received top scores for their leadership teams.
Finally, workers in Sunderland are the most indifferent, inspiring neither enthusiasm nor much anger towards their management team.
