Three quarters of Australian workers have little faith in their business leaders and believe their workplace is in dire need of greater leadership.

That’s according to a new study from the Centre for Workplace Leadership – an offshoot of the University of Melbourne’s Faculty of Business and Economics that is partially funded by the Australian Government.

Around 2,000 people were surveyed in order to compile the Australian Workplace Leadership Poll, and the results will be alarming to any Australian employer concerned about the quality of office leadership.

When asked whether or not they believed Australian workplaces needed better leadership, 74.8 per cent of respondents replied in the affirmative. A total of 21.3 per cent were unsure, while just 3.9 per cent said they disagreed and thought leadership was up to scratch.

“Leadership is the often neglected ingredient in productivity with studies showing that employees who have greater job satisfaction and motivation create workplaces that have productivity gains of 30 per cent,” said Professor Peter Gahan, who acts as director of the Centre for Workplace Leadership.

The good news is that the majority of employees are already taking the initiative and responding to this lack of leadership by willingly taking on tasks that are not necessarily part of their day-to-day role.

Furthermore, 75 per cent of workers surveyed said they believed they have what it takes to be a manager – suggesting that more training and support might be the key to solving this leadership crisis.

If you’d like more assistance with providing leadership development support for your employees, why not contact an HR consulting service to find out the options available to you.

An HR consulting service can help your organisation determine its current and future business requirements, and if necessary, talk you through the process of deploying HR management software that will significantly streamline your training and development initiatives.