« The Monster 5 for Friday--Careers Edition--April 15 | Main | The Monster 5 for Friday--Careers Edition--April 22 »

April 20, 2011

Could You Do a Better Job Than Your Boss?

In a recent Monster homepage poll, we asked, "Could you do your current (or most recent) boss's job better than he or she does?" Here's what you had to say: Bossjobbetter

Of 3,032 U.S. respondents, 69.23 percent think they could outperform their boss (and more than half of those respondents would describe their boss as "incompetent"). And less than 12 percent think of their boss as "brilliant."

It seems there are fewer incompetent bosses in Canada (35.6 percent) and more brilliant ones (13.5 percent); overall, 66.4 percent of Canadian respondents said they could do a better job.

European bosses fared just slightly better and slightly worse than that: 34.5 percent of respondents said they had an incompetent boss, but 12.6 percent said they had a brilliant boss.

The results from our Asian Monster sites including Malaysia, Singapore, and India were slightly more flattering to bosses: 28.8 percent said they had an incompetent boss, 61.3 percent said they could do a better job, and a relatively whopping 18.4 percent claimed to have a brilliant boss.

It seems that we can safely say that perceptions of boss incompetence are universal. Of course, to be fair to bosses, we should also note that other people's jobs always look easier from the outside -- and half of the responsibility for the boss-employee relationship is the employee's. For tips, read "What to Do If Your Boss Is Incompetent."

What's your boss like, and how do you cope with him or her? Let us know in the Comments section, or find us on Twitter or Facebook and be in touch.


 

 

Share this post: Digg, StumbleUpon, del.icio.us, Facebook, Twitter, etc.
Bookmark and Share

Posted by Charles Purdy on April 20, 2011 at 02:58 PM in Career Development , Networking | Permalink | Comments (12) | TrackBack (0)

TrackBack

TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.typepad.com/services/trackback/6a00d834515e7c69e2014e61162445970c

Listed below are links to weblogs that reference Could You Do a Better Job Than Your Boss?:

Comments

I wouldn't say my boss is brilliant, but he certainly does a good job. A poll like this says more about the respondents than their bosses.

Posted by: steveB | Apr 20, 2011 4:24:34 PM

I know my boss was incompetent, I did most of his work for him! sales averages, bills, payroll, schedual, booking events, meeting with owners. what did he do? sit and play WoW and hide from customers.

Posted by: Grendel | Apr 21, 2011 12:34:45 AM

yep why not if you will help me,

Colette,

Posted by: Colette Knight | Apr 21, 2011 7:02:10 AM

I agree, steveB. It just may be indicative that at least some of the subordinates responding don't understand the full scope of their boss's job, assuming they weren't just taking an opportunity to vent a little via an anonymous poll.

Thought provoking, in any case.

Liz Marx
Snelling Staffing

Posted by: Liz Marx | Apr 21, 2011 11:52:56 AM

I suspect these results - especially the people who suggest that their boss is incompetent - show that many respondents probably either under estimate their boss's capabilities or overestimate their own skills.

Posted by: Carl | Apr 21, 2011 3:25:49 PM

Hi Charles,

Love this data. I wonder how much the responders added their personal feelings about their bosses when contemplating their competency. I wonder how similar the responses would be if they were asked: "Do you think you could do you bosses job better?"

Thanks for sharing!

- Corey
Urban Interns
http://www.urbaninterns.com

Posted by: Corey Witt | Apr 21, 2011 3:35:06 PM

Why of course!

Posted by: T Duggan | Apr 22, 2011 6:30:48 PM

Hi Charles,
I wouldn't say my boss is brilliant, But I can say he does his job very well. and one more thing which i want to mention here is, He love to share his experiences with others.

-Michael
http://www.affiliatemonster.co.cc/

Posted by: Affiliate Monster | Apr 24, 2011 8:31:10 PM

I think we all believe that can do a better job than our bosses. However, the reality is that we probably wouldn't be able to. It's easy to sit back and be an armchair boss. But when it comes to actually having the skills and knowledge to preform, I think most of us wouldn't be able to do a better job than our bosses. That's just my opinion.

Posted by: Mark Panes | Apr 25, 2011 2:44:03 AM

Hey,

If these people really could do a better job then their boss - they'd be the boss. Everyone is always going to be critical of the person giving them instruction. This report would be interesting to compare with bosses views of their subordinates and the roles and ages of those who answered either poll.

Batman Chicago

Posted by: Chicago Underdog | May 12, 2011 3:41:55 PM

I think we all believe that can do a better job than our bosses. However, the reality is that we probably wouldn't be able to. It's easy to sit back and be an armchair boss. But when it comes to actually having the skills and knowledge to preform, I think most of us wouldn't be able to do a better job than our bosses. That's just my opinion.

Posted by: dr dre beats | May 17, 2011 5:15:54 AM


That's a scary thought that there is such a negative bias towards bosses around the world.

I wonder how it would impact boss related perceptions and work performance if for 1 day a year, employees were to partner with their bosses to do some of the more challenging or task-complex aspects, which distinguish the senior job description?

Thought provoking post!

Posted by: Duddy | Jun 29, 2011 9:08:48 PM

The comments to this entry are closed.