68% critical of management amid economic crisis

Gulf-based company bosses have failed to show adequate leadership amid the current economic downturn, two-thirds of respondents to an Arabian Business survey said.

Sixty-eight of people who took part in our online poll were critical of the way their company chiefs were acting as businesses attempt to cope with the impact of the global slowdown.

Our survey followed a report last week by Hay Group which revealed that up to 62 percent of managers in the Middle East were having a negative effect on their workforce, resulting to a reduction to companies' bottom line.

Findings from the study showed that just 16 percent of business leaders in the region were creating a high performance environment for the people they manage.

In our survey, just 10 percent of employees thought their managers were "inspirational" and would ensure future success for the business.

Another 22 percent said they were "confident" that their bosses had the ability to come up with strategies to see the company through the current challenges.

In contrast, 37 percent of respondents told us that there had been "no leadership" in their company since the economic crisis took hold.

A further 31 percent of people said the performance of their managers in difficult circumstances was not good enough.

The Hay Group said that years of unfettered business growth in the region had meant companies had given little thought to the importance of leadership style on productivity.

But, that was now being challenged by the economic downturn that had forced companies to look long and hard ways to improve performance.

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