Jobs: Is your manager in the Premier League?

Just over a third (35 per cent) also admitted that their manager’s methods don’t get the best out of their organisations’ workforce.

The report (Is Your Management Style Premier League?) by people developers Results International analyses the management styles of 10 premiership managers, looking at how each would cope running a UK business in today’s economic climate.

Whilst also interviewing more than 100 leading HR and business professionals asking them who they would most like to work for, who they think would be the best manager to run a UK business, what their own management style is like and their views on a few other insightful aspects of managing people, such as what they think of their bosses’ management methods.

Melanie Wombwell, MD at Results International said: “Like the football world, the business world is fraught with turmoil and change. It takes good leadership and a strong managerial style to overcome these challenges. Good management works at its best when there’s a fit between the management style of MDs/CEO’s and the teams they lead. However of those surveyed, most (23 per cent) said that their bosses’ management style was like that of Mick McCarthy’s. Yet this is a style that just 1 per cent of those surveyed like to work under.”

Indeed, most of the business professionals surveyed wanted to work with either Harry Redknapp (28 per cent stating this), or Ian Holloway (23 per cent admitting this), and most (34 per cent) likened their own management style to Ian Holloway’s.

Ms Wombwell added: “This makes for positive reading, as the ‘relationship’ method, which is how we like to refer to Holloway’s style, is one that would prove successful in the commercial world as it is today, with 15 per cent of our survey respondents also agreeing to this. Having a great relationship with your employees, where they want to go out and perform to the very best of their abilities, and enjoy what they do can be very powerful. Plus, for those financially-challenged businesses, this method of people management can be a fantastic way to keep salaries in check.”

When asked what motivates employees in their organisation, surprisingly money or bonuses were not top of the list. Instead it was inspirational leadership (36 per cent) and reputation of the company (34 per cent).

So, good management can also save companies a fortune in salaries and bonuses. Ms Wombwell added: “People make the world go round. Business is about people, be it running a football club, an accountancy firm, or a insurance company. Motivation and getting the best out of people is key to running a successful business in this current climate.”

The top three premiership managers who Results International and those surveyed think would perform best if they were to be running a UK business in today’s world, are; Harry Redknapp (23 per cent), Ian Holloway (15 per cent suggesting this), and Arsene Wenger (19 per cent agreeing to this).

Ms Wombwell concluded: “Football as a business is still pretty hard to grasp, as it often bears little relation to most other businesses. Contracts appear to count for nothing, whilst most clubs make a loss. However, people have probably got more to say about Sir Alex Ferguson or Ancelotti’s management styles than they have about their own or even their bosses’. So that’s why we’ve put this report together, because in whatever context, motivation and getting the best out of people is key to running a successful business, and to do that you need not only a good management style, but the right management style.”