Management of Underperformers Costs US Employers $138 Billion Annually

October 20, 2004 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Wasting time managing under-performing employees? You're not alone.

A new study by human resource consulting firm SHL Group shows that managers are wasting phenomenal amounts of time dealing with badly-performing workers. In the US, managers waste 34 days a year, 14% of their day. The total cost of such wasted time is estimate at $158 billion per year by SHL.

At large companies – those with over $8.5 million in turnover – the problem is felt even more acutely. In these companies, US managers are spending 41 days a year on poor performers.

The survey, which spoke to 700 managers in seven countries, showed that of the counties polled, Hong Kong had managers wasting the most time on these imperfect employees, with 24% of their time devoted to dealing with underperformers. Swedish managers spent the least amount of time, at 8%, on the same task.

The survey – ‘Getting the Edge in the New People Economy – was conducted for the SHL Group by The Future Foundation, and is downloadable at www.shl.com/edge .

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