Ask for advice

Who Does the Boss Ask for Advice?

CO2 Partners recently conducted a national study to find out “How often does your boss ask for your advice on solving a problem at work?” The results surprised us:

  • Seldom/Never 32.6%
  • Often/Occasionally 62.6%
  • Don't know 3.9%

Despite a nationwide trend toward increasing teamwork and maximizing individual contributions, roughly a third of the work force is not allowed to flex their problem-solving muscles. What are their leaders afraid of exactly? Too many good ideas? How many of these same leaders, do you think, claim to be striving for higher employee engagement?

Being asked to contribute a suggestion is a sign of regard by one's employer. That should be reason enough to ask for input.

Unfortunately, if our survey question asked about solving an “important” problem, I suspect the results would have been even more demoralizing. Too often leaders trust only themselves when the stakes are high, resulting in less input and greater employee alienation.

Among the other findings:

  • Women are somewhat less likely than men, 34.7% v. 30.8%, to be asked for input by an employer.
  • The less education an employee has, the less likely he or she will be asked to contribute an idea. Forty percent of those with a high school diploma (or less education) reported seldom or never being asked for advice, compared to just 20.9% of college graduates.
  • Likewise, 45.7% of employees earning less than $25,000 annually reported seldom or never being consulted, compared with just 24.7% of those earning more than $75,000.
  • There were no significant differences among age groups.


The survey findings reflect top-down bias. How foolish to think that only the most educated or highest-ranking employees are worthy of being consulted. Less-educated workers are often the most involved in product production and communicating with customers. They are the ones I would want to talk to first.
I would caution employers against asking questions if they are not genuinely prepared to listen to responses. If you do not show respect for input, the quality of responses will decline over time - "validating" your reluctance to ask questions in the first place.

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