Half of middle managers say decision-making is taken out of their hands, according to Insigniam's 2014 Middle Management Survey.
The lack of decisionmaking was cited as one of the top frustrations among middle managers, along changing priorities and the sense that immediate supervisors do not listen to them.
The 2014 Middle Management Survey is based on responses from 200 managers in Global 1000 companies from several industries, including healthcare, pharmaceuticals, manufacturing and biotech. These middle managers reported at least two levels of management between them and the highest executive in their company.
Here are a few of the survey's other key findings:
- 82 percent of middle managers had at least one educational opportunity this year
- 60 percent prefer to manage people over processes, whereas 23 percent prefer to manage processes in their role
- 61 percent said they would not be happy staying in their job for the next five years
- 35 percent said it is very important for them to move up the management ladder, while 39 percent said they would be content at their current level for the next three years
- 15 percent of middle managers said they believed they would be promoted to the next level of management at their current company in the next three years, whereas 37 percent did not believe they would be promoted and 28 percent said there was possibility of promotion