Estonians don't trust managers

Apr 18, 2008
By Mike Collier

TALLINN -- A survey conducted by Enterprise Estonia reveals a significant lack of confidence in managers from the people they manage. Only 15% of the Estonian population believe in the honesty and ethical nature of managers, with a majority believing that managers put short-term results before long-term goals.

“While only 15% of respondents thought that Estonian managers are honest and ethical in their activities, managers saw themselves as significantly more honest and ethical,” said Veigo Kell, Manager of the Management Awareness Programme of Enterprise Estonia. Non-Estonians also regarded managers as more ethical, but the majority still thought otherwise. 62% of the respondents believe that managers in Estonia are looking for fast success and fail to set any long-term goals for themselves.

74% of the people did not think Estonian companies are doing well, and found that this is why the Estonian managers must keep developing themselves. A third of the respondents thought there is a confrontation between managers and employees at the workplace, and that the authoritarian management style is predominant. The managers who responded also agreed with these statements. Young people were more optimistic, being less eager to agree with the domination of the authoritarian management style. However, there were more young people who believed that leadership skills are inborn and do not need to be developed.

According to Veigo Kell, Manager of the Management Awareness Programme of Enterprise Estonia, the survey revealed several shortcomings regarding management awareness, which the Management Awareness Programme will definitely pay more attention to in the future. “We have already launched the website juhtimine.ee; the TV-show "Juhtimisaju" helps to educate the wider public, and we also organise events related to management awareness," commented Kell on the options for educating people. “I believe that both for us and Estonian managers, the results of this survey provide a lot to think about,” Kell added.

The survey was conducted by Turu-uuringute AS at the request of Enterprise Estonia in the framework of the Management Awareness Programme. It was an omnibus-survey with the size of the sample being 1000 people of Estonia aged 15-74.

The purpose of the Management Awareness Programme co-funded by the European Social Fund is to raise the awareness of Estonian society to the importance of management quality and enhance the competitiveness of Estonian companies, raising the awareness of managers regarding modern efficient management concepts and methods. The target group of the Management Awareness Programme, taking place for the fourth year, are mainly the managers of small and medium-sized enterprises and business operators, as well as specialists and students.

MORE NEWS