Rate Your Boss Performance

Monday, January 18, 2010, 12:39

Companies are being urged to allow staff to rate their managers' ability. This practice of letting the boss know what his employees think of them through constructive feedback, will make employees happy, healthy and stress-free, according to a psychologist.

Research presented at the British Psychological Society's psychology conference found that the relationship between staff and line managers was the most commonly reported cause of workplace stress.

A study of 150 managers and 500 workers by Emma Donaldson-Feilder, from Affinity Health At Work, found that, feedback from employees make bosses more responsible and they undergo a positive change.On the other hand, managers who do not receive any feedback were less likely to change their management behaviour.

Donaldson-Feilder said: "Without holding a mirror up to a person, they can have blind spots about how they come across and, if they think they are already good enough, why should they change?

The consequences of stress can be fatal. Psychological symptoms, such as anxiety or depression ; physiological symptoms, such as palpitations or raised blood pressure, or cognitive symptoms such as reduced mental capacity are experienced by workers.

Stress is a significant cause of mental sickness, creating a cycle of uncomfortable pressure with costs to the individual and to the company.