A recent study conducted by Krataion Consulting in September 2024 reveals that Greek employees express relative dissatisfaction with the leadership abilities of their managers. The study, which included 500 employees from various sectors and age groups across Greece, aimed to evaluate managers’ skills, highlighting their strengths and areas for improvement as team leaders. Simultaneously, a comparable survey was conducted in the Netherlands to draw comparisons with a Western European country.

Key Findings

The survey showed that Greek managers, who usually have a directive leadership style, received an overall satisfaction score of 5.9/10. Among participants:

21% were quite or very satisfied,
40% were somewhat satisfied,
39% were quite or very dissatisfied.

In contrast, Dutch managers, who tend to adopt a more adaptive leadership style, achieved significantly better results, with an overall satisfaction score of 7.5/10, and 49% of employees stating they were very satisfied.

Evaluation Criteria

The assessment of leadership skills focused on seven key pillars:

  1. Self-Awareness, Self-Regulation, and Empathy: Greek employees acknowledge their managers’ confidence but rate them at an average of 6.4/10 for self-awareness and 6.3/10 for empathy. 52% believe that managers do not effectively manage their emotions.
  2. Organizational Culture: Managers scored 6.2/10 in fostering trust and communication. Only 50% believe that managers communicate openly with their teams.
  3. Organizational Systemic Health: Greek managers received a score of 6.1/10 for recognizing employee efforts. Workers expressed a desire for a stronger sense of belonging and better work-life balance (6.3/10).
  4. Human Resource Development and Empowerment: Managers scored 6.7/10 for holding teams accountable for outcomes. However, 48% believe managers could be more attentive to employees’ support needs.
  5. Effective Communication: Active listening and providing feedback were rated at 6.4/10 and 6.5/10, respectively. Managers appeared less receptive to receiving feedback.
  6. Vision and Strategy: Greek managers scored 6.7/10 for their commitment to achieving goals, but their communication of vision and strategy needs improvement (6.4/10).
  7. Change Management: Only 50% felt managers clearly communicated the reasons for changes, while 44% preferred greater involvement in the change process.

Conclusions

Greek managers are recognized for their knowledge and dedication to company goals. However, skills related to self-awareness, self-regulation, people management, and fostering a healthy organizational culture require improvement.

Encouragingly, recent studies indicate that leadership skills can be developed with a willingness to improve and organizational investment in their people. Experience shows that interventions like coaching and experiential leadership programs are far more effective than traditional group training sessions.

Investing in the leadership skills of managers is crucial for cultivating a healthy and productive work environment in Greece in 2024.