Companies that have warned their workforces to confront the realities of job insecurity and limited careers are finding they have created a new type of mercenary manager prepared to move to the highest bidder, according to a new report. The survey by Ashridge Management Centre says the wave of insecurity that affected managers during the corporate downsizing of the early 1990s was an unpleasant experience for many, but it has taught them to be more self-centered and independent about their careers.
The backlash for companies according to Laurence Handy, Ashridge's director of research, is that many managers are now more likely to look elsewhere to further their careers if their current employer is not meeting their expectation. "They are saying they want something that's interesting, and they want paying for it. You now have a very hard-nosed group of people who have got the message," he said.
Nearly three-quarters of the 553 managers who responded to the survey said they felt in control of their jobs. "This is a marked change from previous years' research when the message coming from managers was that they did not feel in control of anything," said Mr. Handy. "Life has moved on and now managers are flexing their muscles," he adds. "The pressure is moving over to the other side with the laws of supply and demand and now companies are screaming that they are spending a fortune on headhunters."
Managers are keeping their options open, the report states. More turn to their partners for career advice than to the personnel specialist or to their immediate boss. Trust in senior management also appears to have declined in some companies. Many of the managers interviewed in the survey complained that fear and threats were the prime motivators in their companies.