I was interested, though not really very surprised, to read the results of a recent poll in the UK which suggested that more than 80 per cent of workers believe that they could do their boss’s job better than the boss himself/herself (http://www.fmj.co.uk/83-per-cent-dislike-boss-believe-can-better-job/ ). The question is, what does this actually mean" That the great majority of managers are so incompetent that anyone could do the job better than they could" Or that four out of five workers don’t really know what their managers do, and therefore aren’t able to evaluate properly the contribution that managers make"

Grumbling about managers who sit around and do nothing while low-paid staff do all the work has been going on since the days of Middle Kingdom Egypt, at least, and probably before that. Everyone likes to complain about those who have been put in authority over them, for understandable reasons. But how many workers on the shop floor, be it a steel mill, a call centre or a department store, know what their managers do all day" Do they recognise the coordinating role that managers play, bringing people and resources together to achieve a job" Quite often they don’t because, especially in cases where work is very divided, few staff ever have the chance to see beyond their own silos.

That’s not the fault of the workers, of course, but a result of how the business is structured. And workers are entitled to ask what managers do. Rather than brushing them off or telling them to mind their own business, managers should engage with their staff and make clear what their own role and contribution is. For example:

Managers need to get out and talk more with their staff and explain, in non-patronising and non-self-pitying terms, what they do and the pressures they are under. If they can do this well, they may find staff coming up with suggestions and offering to help.

Managers need to make sure that staff get out of their boxes from time to time and have a chance to look around and see how the organisation, or at least their part of it, really functions. Consulting staff about major decisions, job exchanges or swaps and cross-functional project teams are all ways of helping staff to see the bigger picture.

Managers need to recognise that there is a partnership between themselves and their staff, and the only way that goals will be achieved is if all pull together. If staff feel that they are part of a team rather than subordinates requiring constant direction, they will often begin to feel more involved and interested in what they do – and what others do around them.

It is no bad thing for workers to hold their managers to account and demand to know what they do all day. Good managers will always have an answer when workers ask this question. Great managers will engage with their workers so closely that the latter will have no need to ask.