As post summer holiday blues sets in as we return to our desks from breaks away, nearly a quarter (24%) of the UK workforce – 7.2m – are feeling the effects of uninspiring leaders in the workplace, according to new research by Investors in People, the standard for people management.

Despite the importance of leading from the front, over a quarter (26%) of people at work do not feel motivated by their managers. Equally, almost a quarter (24%) do not feel they are appreciated for their hard work.

The study of 3,500 employees, conducted to identify links between staff management and business performance shines a shocking picture on Britain’s bosses. Nearly one third (30%) of employees don’t trust their boss, which is not surprising when one in five (20%) doesn’t believe in the importance of training their staff.

Investors in People worked with economic analysis consultancy TBR to evaluate the value of this bad leadership, identifying a £39bn cost to UK businesses every year. Bristol, Sheffield and Glasgow have the most uninspiring bosses with 36%, 33% and 31% of people not motivated by their managers respectively. Meanwhile, Edinburgh, London and Belfast offer the most inspiring bosses, with 82% and 77% of people in those cities feeling motivated by their leaders.

The issue is most prevalent in larger businesses (1000+ staff) where one third (33%) of employees do not feel motivated by their managers. However, the situation in small businesses (1-49 staff) does not fair much better with 29% of staff feeling unmotivated by their bosses.

Paul Devoy, Head of Investors in People, commented: “Our research shows that many employees are feeling frustrated in their roles due to poor management. Strong and inspiring leaders are critical in business in order to get the best from your staff. These findings should be a wake up call to leaders and one of the reasons Investors in People has worked with top businesses across the country to launch a leading practice framework, helping organisations manage their people more effectively.”

Hundreds of academics, business leaders, and industry experts were involved in the creation of the sixth generation Investors in People standard, which launched last week. Investors in People also unveiled the first ever real-time ‘People Management Dashboard’. Giving open access to their performance data, anyone can now access a unique set of common metrics, showing the management performance of workplaces across the UK.

For more information about Investors in People please visit www.investorsinpeople.com