[originaltext] Most people dislike their jobs. It’s an astonishing (but stat

Most people dislike their jobs. It’s an astonishing (but statistical) fact. A primary cause of employee dissatisfaction, according to fresh research, is that many believe they have terrible managers. Few describe their managers as malicious or manipulative, though, while those types certainly exist, they are minority. The majority of managers seemingly just don’t know any better. They’re often emulating bad managers they’ve had in the past. It’s likely they’ve never read a management book or attended a management course. They might not have even reflected on what good management looks like and how it would influence their own management style. The researchers interviewed employees about their managers, beginning with a question about the worst manager they had ever had. From this, the researchers came up with four main causes of why some managers are perceived as being simply awful at their jobs.
    The first cause was company culture, which was seen by employees as enabling poor management practices. It was specifically stressful work environments, minimal training and a lack of accountability that were found to be the most blameworthy. Often a manager’s superiors can effectively encourage a manager’s distasteful behavior when they fail to discipline the person’s wrongdoings. Such workplaces are sometimes described as toxic.
    The second cause was attributed to the managers’ characteristics. Those deemed to be most destructive were odd people, those without drive, those who allow personal problems into the workplace and those with an unpleasant temperament or personality in general.
The third cause of poor management was associated with a deficiency of qualifications. Not so much the formal variety one obtains from a university but the informal variety that comes from credible work experience and professional accomplishments.
    The fourth cause concerned managers who’ve been promoted for reasons other than potential. One reason in particular why these people had been promoted was that they had been around the longest. It wasn’t their skillset or other merits that got them the job. It was their tenure.
    A point worth making is that the study was based only on the perspective of employees. The researchers didn’t ask senior leaders what they thought of their frontline managers. It’s quite possible they’re content with how the individuals they promoted are now performing, merrily ignorant of the damage they’re actually causing, which might explain why, as the researchers conclude, those same middle managers are usually unaware that they are a bad manager.
    Questions 16 to 18 are based on the recording you have just heard.
    16. What is a primary cause of employee dissatisfaction according to recent research?
    17. What is one of the causes for poor management practices?
    18. What do we learn about the study on job dissatisfaction?