Three quarters of companies think line managers are poor at managing employees, according to a survey by IRS Employment Review.

Only one in four leaders quizzed said their line managers were good at managing employee absence, training staff or conducting performance appraisals.

More than half also felt these managers were reluctant or apathetic to assume new responsibilities.

Despite this, six out of ten companies had increased the people management duties of their line managers in the past three years, and planned to assign further tasks in future.

According to the study, these results could be due to a poor recruitment and induction process of new line managers.

The research found that companies employ new first line managers because they succeed in their current job, rather than because they possess the leadership and people skills necessary for the new role.

While the vast majority (81%) of organisations provide induction training, less than half of those surveyed (49%) felt this preparation was sufficient.