Men make better bosses than women, survey says

Female bosses are moody, back-stabbing and a nightmare to work for - and it's not just men who think so.

Two-thirds of women prefer a male boss because they are straight-talking and less likely to have a hidden agenda, according to a survey of employees.

Men are also less likely to feel threatened if others are good at their jobs or to get involved in office politics.

About 3,000 men and women were questioned for the research, with three-quarters of men agreeing that they would rather work for a man than a woman.

A quarter of women accused female bosses of talking about their staff behind their backs and bringing their personal lives into the office.

Other negative comments included them being "too cliquey", too competitive and spending too long fussing about their appearance.

David Brown of online recruitment firm www.UKJobs.net, which commissioned the research, said: "Incredibly both men and women are in total agreement that men make better bosses - 63 per cent of women and 75 per cent of men.

"This indicates that while women are more capable of progressing to a management role, some lack some of the key skills required to be a good boss.

"No one is suggesting that women aren't intelligent enough to be in senior positions, far from it, but perhaps some need to be more approachable and less competitive. "People want to go to work knowing they will be given a fair chance."

Women are accused of being too "sharp-tongued" with a third of those interviewed complaining of females' hormonal mood swings.

Forty per cent said men were more able to distance themselves from politics and bitching and 14 per cent said they found them more reasonable than women.

But Mr Brown added: "We shouldn't forget that a third of those polled did say women are better to work for."

Those who said they preferred a woman boss did so because females are more approachable, friendly and understood when workers needed time off to look after their children.

The survey found that the average worker has had two female and three male bosses.

More than 30 per cent quit their job because they did not like their boss and, of these, the majority of women claimed they left because of a female manager.