10 Signs You Hired the Wrong Manager

Hiring a manager is one of the most important decisions a business owner or organisational leader will make. I have had the opportunity to hire and work with managers across education, fitness and technology companies, and one thing I have come to appreciate is that choosing the right person to manage people is not always as straightforward as it looks. Someone may have an impressive CV, years of experience, excellent qualifications and the confidence to convince you during an interview, yet struggle when given the responsibility of managing a team.

For CEOs, directors, founders and business owners, the consequences can be serious. The wrong manager can frustrate good employees, slow down business operations, damage customer relationships and make the workplace more difficult than it should be. Sometimes, the business owner begins to wonder why employees are not performing, without realising that the problem may be the person managing them. So, how do you know when you have hired the wrong manager? Here are ten signs worth paying attention to.

1. Your Employees Are Always Complaining About the Manager

One complaint does not necessarily mean you have a bad manager. People sometimes complain because they dislike being corrected, held accountable or asked to meet reasonable standards. However, when several employees independently raise similar concerns about the same manager, you should pay attention.

You may hear complaints about poor communication, unfair treatment, unnecessary pressure or a manager who does not listen. If the complaints continue over time, investigate them rather than dismissing them as ordinary workplace politics.

As a business owner, you must be careful not to judge a manager solely by what employees say. Speak to the people involved, examine the facts and look for patterns. The objective is not to take sides but to understand whether the manager is helping the organisation achieve its goals.

2. Good Employees Are Leaving the Organisation

When capable employees keep leaving a particular department, you should investigate what is happening under its manager. People leave for different reasons, including better salaries, career opportunities, relocation and personal circumstances. Therefore, it would be wrong to blame every resignation on a manager.

However, if employees repeatedly mention poor supervision, lack of respect, favouritism or the absence of opportunities to grow, you may have identified a management problem.

Gallup’s research on employee engagement has highlighted the significant relationship between managers and the engagement of their teams. Its findings are a reminder that the employee’s experience of work is strongly influenced by the person directly responsible for managing them.

My recommendation is that you conduct exit interviews, review staff turnover across departments and ask employees what would make their working experience better. Do not wait until your best people have left before investigating.

3. The Manager Cannot Get Things Done Without You

There is a difference between keeping your director informed and depending on the director to solve every problem. If your manager constantly brings routine decisions to you, waits for instructions before taking action or needs your approval for matters that should fall within their authority, you may have appointed someone who is not ready for the responsibility.

A manager should understand the organisation’s objectives, know the limits of their authority and make appropriate decisions within those limits. Of course, important financial, legal and strategic decisions may require approval from senior leadership. The problem is when even ordinary operational matters cannot move forward without the business owner.

Ask yourself whether you hired a manager to take responsibility or simply another person who needs to be managed.

Set clear expectations, define decision-making authority and establish the matters that must be escalated. If the manager still cannot function independently after receiving proper guidance, you may need to reconsider whether the role is suitable for them.

4. They Blame Everyone Except Themselves

Every manager will experience problems. Employees will make mistakes, customers will complain, suppliers will disappoint and projects will sometimes fall behind schedule. What matters is how the manager responds.

The wrong manager always seems to have an explanation for why something went wrong, but rarely accepts responsibility for their own contribution. The employees are incompetent, the budget is insufficient, another department failed to cooperate, or senior management did not provide enough support.

Some of these explanations may be valid. Good managers should identify genuine obstacles rather than accept blame for everything. However, a manager who consistently avoids responsibility and never develops a plan to solve problems is not helping the organisation move forward.

When reviewing performance, ask three questions: What happened? What contributed to it? What will you do differently next time? A manager who can answer these questions honestly is more likely to improve than one who spends every meeting defending themselves.

5. They Micromanage Everything

Some managers believe they must personally inspect every task, approve every small decision and monitor every movement to ensure that work is done properly. They struggle to trust employees and find it difficult to allow people to work without constant interference.

This approach may create the appearance of control, but it can weaken employee confidence, slow down work and prevent capable people from developing their skills.

In Google’s research into effective management, known as Project Oxygen, empowering teams and avoiding micromanagement emerged as important management behaviours. The research also emphasised coaching, listening and supporting employee development.

This does not mean managers should abandon supervision. New employees need guidance, sensitive tasks require appropriate controls, and poor performance must be addressed. The objective is to provide the right level of supervision for the task and the employee’s experience.

If your manager cannot delegate, teach them how to set clear expectations, agree on deadlines and review results without unnecessarily controlling every step.

6. They Show Favouritism

A manager who gives opportunities only to preferred employees can create serious problems within a team. Some employees receive recognition regardless of their contribution, while others work hard without receiving fair consideration.

Favouritism may appear in the allocation of responsibilities, promotion decisions, access to training, leave approvals or the way mistakes are treated. Over time, employees may conclude that performance does not matter as much as personal relationships.

Managers must be able to distinguish professional relationships from personal preferences. They do not have to like everyone equally, but they must treat people fairly and make decisions based on relevant evidence.

If you suspect favouritism, review decisions, ask for the reasons behind them and compare how similar situations have been handled. Clear performance criteria and consistent procedures can help reduce the influence of personal bias.

7. They Communicate Poorly

A manager may be technically competent and hardworking but still struggle because they cannot communicate clearly. Employees may not understand their responsibilities, deadlines may be missed because instructions were incomplete, and important information may reach the team too late.

Poor communication also includes refusing to listen, giving feedback only when something goes wrong and making employees afraid to ask questions.

Good communication is not simply about speaking confidently or sending frequent messages. It means ensuring that people understand what is expected, why it matters, what resources are available and how their work will be assessed.

As a business owner, observe how your manager conducts meetings, explains decisions and handles difficult conversations. Ask employees whether they understand their priorities and whether they can raise genuine concerns without fear of humiliation.

If communication is the problem, provide practical training and measure whether the manager’s behaviour improves.

8. They Focus on Activity Rather Than Results

Some managers appear busy from morning until evening. They attend meetings, send reports, make phone calls and constantly ask employees for updates. Yet, when you examine the actual results, very little seems to have improved.

The problem is that activity and achievement are not the same thing.

A manager should understand the results their department is expected to deliver and organise the team’s work around those objectives. For a sales manager, this might include revenue, conversion rates and customer retention. For an academic manager, it might involve teaching quality, student progress and programme completion. For a technology manager, it could include delivery timelines, system reliability and customer experience.

Peter Drucker, in The Effective Executive, emphasised the importance of effectiveness, priorities and contribution to results. His work offers a useful reminder that management should not be measured simply by how occupied someone appears.

Give managers clear objectives, measurable performance indicators and regular opportunities to explain their progress. If they cannot connect their daily activities to meaningful organisational outcomes, something needs to change.

9. They Refuse to Learn or Accept Feedback

No manager knows everything. The business environment changes, employees develop new expectations, technology advances and organisations encounter problems they have never faced before.

The wrong manager behaves as though accepting feedback would undermine their authority. They become defensive when corrected, reject new ideas without proper consideration and repeat the same mistakes despite previous discussions.

This attitude makes development difficult. It can also discourage employees from sharing useful information because they know their manager will not listen.

A good manager does not have to agree with every suggestion. They should, however, be willing to examine evidence, consider alternative approaches and recognise when they have made a mistake.

If your manager has weaknesses, agree on a development plan, provide appropriate training and review progress over a reasonable period. The Professional Certificate in Management at Fordax Business School is one option to consider for strengthening management knowledge and practical skills: https://go.fordaxbschool.com/course/management-excellence-new-managers

Training works best when the manager is willing to learn and the organisation provides opportunities to apply the lessons.

10. The Department Performs Better When the Manager Is Absent

This is one of the most revealing signs, although it requires careful interpretation. If employees become more confident, decisions move faster and cooperation improves whenever the manager is away, you should investigate why.

Perhaps the manager creates unnecessary bottlenecks, discourages initiative or makes employees afraid to take responsibility. It is also possible that the team has simply become more comfortable handling routine matters independently.

Look at the evidence over time. Compare the department’s performance, communication, decision-making and employee feedback across different periods. Speak to the manager as well as the team before drawing conclusions.

A manager’s purpose is not to make themselves indispensable to every activity. It is to build a team that can perform well, solve problems and deliver results with appropriate supervision. If everything stops when the manager is absent, the department may have a serious management or delegation problem.

What Should You Do If You Have Hired the Wrong Manager?

Recognising the problem is only the beginning. The next step is deciding whether the manager can improve and what the organisation should do to support that improvement.

First, identify the specific behaviours and performance problems that concern you. Avoid vague statements such as “You are not a good manager.” Instead, explain what has happened, why it matters and what must change.

Second, give the manager a fair opportunity to respond. You may discover that some problems arise from unclear responsibilities, insufficient training, unrealistic expectations or a lack of resources. Senior management must be prepared to examine its own contribution as well.

Third, agree on a practical improvement plan with clear expectations, support and a review date. Depending on the situation, this may include management training, coaching, regular performance discussions or closer supervision.

The Professional Certificate in Management at Fordax Business School can also be considered as part of a manager’s development plan: https://go.fordaxbschool.com/course/management-excellence-new-managers

However, training is not a substitute for accountability. If a manager repeatedly demonstrates dishonesty, serious misconduct, unwillingness to improve or an inability to meet the essential requirements of the role, reassignment or termination may be necessary. Follow fair procedures, document performance concerns and comply with applicable employment law.

Final Thoughts

Hiring a manager is not simply about finding someone with the right qualifications or the most impressive work history. It is about finding someone who can organise work, make sound decisions, develop people and take responsibility for results.

As business owners and organisational leaders, we must be willing to examine the quality of the managers we appoint. When a department struggles, the problem may not always be the employees, the market or the available resources. Sometimes, we need to look more closely at the person responsible for bringing everything together.

The good news is that not every struggling manager is the wrong manager. Some need clearer expectations, better support and proper training. Others may be better suited to a different role. The responsibility of the business owner is to identify the difference.

Ultimately, the quality of your management affects the quality of your organisation. Hire carefully, evaluate fairly, develop people deliberately and act when the evidence shows that change is necessary.

References and Further Reading

1. Beck, R. and Harter, J. (2015). Managers Account for 70% of Variance in Employee Engagement. Gallup.
2. Garvin, D. A. (2013). How Google Sold Its Engineers on Management. Harvard Business Review.
3. Drucker, P. F. (1967). The Effective Executive: The Definitive Guide to Getting the Right Things Done. Harper & Row.

About the author: Dr. Stephen Michael is a business educator and lecturer at Fordax Business School, with experience in business training and working with managers across different industries.