Tuesday 08 / July / 2025
Muscat: Employees thrive when they work under effective management and may leave companies when overseen by authoritarian managers.
That’s according to Aseela Al Adawiya, a business management analyst in Oman, who added that it is a misconception that people leave companies because of overwhelming workloads. It is, in fact, the controls upon them that is responsible for employees tendering their resignations.
“While many corporates look for candidates with competence and great work appetite, there arises the question as to the increase witnessed in the resignation requests coming from proficient staff,” added Al Adawiya, who works at a leading financial institution in Oman. “Many hold the perception that staff resign due to in-house overwhelming workload, it is, in fact, the authority exercised by some managers at work.
“An effective managerial stance has to be measured on the basis of any major transformations and additions it makes in various aspects at a departmental level,” she explained, “This, in essence, explains in a way the fact that staff assuming managerial positions fall under various categories according to a manner that shows their leadership and management capabilities.”
She revealed that because authoritarian managers are characterised by certain unfavourable attributes, dealing with them does not seem to be an easy task. Staff, after all, join their workplace with the expectation that their managers will be supportive and help them grow, and make them feel they are a good addition to the department of which they have become a member.
“Managers falling under this category justify their controlling practices, assuming that never does the flow of business become successful, unless managerial control over staff is exercised, instructions are fulfilled as per requested without any excuse, and words they utter are taken as right and convincing,” Al Adawiya said.
“Staff going through such challenges never experience any sort of growth and improvement at a professional level,” she admitted. “Worse than that, they are more likely to lose their work appetite, resulting in some job tasks being postponed or not looked at.”
Because controlling managers are demanding, the responsibilities they ask the staff to perform – on the grounds that this instills professional discipline and ensures fulfilment of objectives – render the latter unable to place an equal amount of focus on all tasks.
While a new task is assigned to them, stress has already started to overwhelm them and they are confused after they complete their former tasks, given that more instructions are in the way. Even task prioritisation might not always sound workable to help them cope with such workload, which causes both the staff and department to become less productive.
“The whole scenario seems to resemble the example of a machine with which the more you play, the less functional it becomes,” said Al Adawiya. “More than that, staff begin to create disputes, complaining about the absence of a comprehensive strategy and the unjustifiable practices of managers.
“Despite all these challenges, staff still exert their utmost effort not only to make the flow of the business efficient, but as an attempt also to fix the unsettled and inflexible manager-employee relationship,” she went on to say.
Aseela Al Adawiya added that a flexible and understanding manager-employee relationship contributes to the creation of a positive working environment, which motivates staff to take the initiative on major matters concerning the department, boosts their critical thinking skills and allows them to make prompt decisions based on the objectives set previously.
On the other hand, a working environment where there exists poor communication between managers and employees, and where the latter are only expected to practice active listening while their ideas or suggestions are unheard or unappreciated is unhealthy for staff seeking growth.
“Corporates with a good public image must be of a management -- be it managers, leaders or heads - that does not only strive for high productivity rates and aim to top other competitive counterparts,” she said.
“Successful businesses strike a balance between achieving objectives and promoting work ethics, an idea which must work in line with integrity seen as one of the values embraced at workplaces. Integrity is to act according to values and principles, but it must not be based on personal gains, since this breaks the distinction between what is right and wrong,” she said. “Proper and constructive management espouses values contributory to the development of employees and departments alike.
“Nonetheless, this does not seem to be the case with managers who practise power in a controlling manner,” said Al Adawiya.“As an illustration, the unfair evaluation of staff, uncourageous communication they take part in, the destructive comments thrown around, and the fact that they dominate most discussions and meetings are obvious examples demonstrating the breach made in values. To conclude, effective management is an integral element for the success of any business, and it can be described as a pillar upon which a corporate’s stable and robust stance stands.”
