Technically competent but managerially challenged seems to be the common view employees take of their supervisors.
Survey trends over the last 25 years indicate that employees remain critical of the management skills of their supervisors.
The Merit Systems Protection Board said for that reason that agencies should continue evaluating whether they are holding supervisors accountable for exercising effective management skills.
One problematic area is performance management. Just 30 percent of respondents to MSPB’s Merit Principles survey in 2005 gave their supervisors positive ratings.
In 2007, just 49 percent of employees reported that rewards and recognition are actually based on performance. MSPB said that could mean rewards have little motivational value if employees don’t view them as linked to performance.