Human resource managers may do well to listen to a new study which has revealed that team leaders who are nice could gain the competitive advantage over their rivals.

That is according to a study conducted by North Carolina (NC) State University, which has suggested that leaders who treat their team with "honesty, kindness and respect", will succeed.

When questioned, employees who believed they were being treated fairly by their manager showed an increased commitment to both their team and the project they were working on.

Commenting on the results of the research, Dr Jon Bohlmann of NC State University, said: "If you think you are being treated well, you are going to work well with others on your team."

The Health and Safety Executive recently launched a new website aimed at helping businesses to prevent work-related stress, in a bid to help improve worker productivity.

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