Is it Good to Be the Boss?

Many meeting professionals aspire to be the boss someday, but how do they really like it once they achieve that position of power? M&C conducted an online survey this past November to find out how planners feel about the job of running their departments.
    When asked if they like being the boss, 94 percent of the 312 respondents said “yes, very much” or “yes, for the most part.” The respondents supervise an average of six people; 21 percent of those polled are in charge of 11 or more people. 
    Concerning their duties as managers, 88 percent are responsible for conducting staff reviews, and 60 percent are solely responsible for hiring and firing their direct reports. More than half of respondents (59 percent) report to a C-level executive (as in CEO, COO and CFO), 26 percent report to a vice president and 15 percent report to another manager.
    While most of those surveyed are middle managers (58 percent), 29 percent are C-level executives themselves.
    A plurality of those polled (35 percent) say managing a staff does not often interfere with their core duties, yet another 34 percent say supervising people interferes every day.
    On the downside, about 80 percent of respondents dislike firing people (yet 6 percent report they enjoy doing it), 63 percent say they are uncomfortable when it comes to reprimanding staff, 53 percent abhor dealing with difficult people and 45 percent dislike resolving staff conflicts.
    Among other responsibilities that come with authority, 56 percent say they like demonstrating return on investment, and 52 percent actually enjoy the budgeting process.

By Art Pfenning, director, M&C Research; [email protected]