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Relationships with bosses and supervisors are the top factor in employees’ job satisfaction, which in turn is the second most important determinant of employees’ overall well-being.
Getting along
Of all the misery in the world, one source lies within an organization’s sphere of influence: the behavior of its bosses and supervisors.
Better bosses
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Power poisoning
The more senior a person becomes, the bigger the risk of turning insensitive and unkind to others.
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The boss factor: Making the world a better place through workplace relationships
Mildly, and highly
But research shows that most people find their managers to be far from ideal.
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You’re the boss
If you’re a boss or supervisor, here are four things you can do to improve workplace happiness—no matter what your organization’s culture is like.
The boss factor: Making the world a better place through workplace relationships
Article – McKinsey Quarterly
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Responding to the great acceleration requires companies to experiment with and invest in new digital technologies.
Memo to the CEO: Are you the source of workplace dysfunction?
Article – McKinsey Quarterly
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Memo to the CEO: Are you the source of workplace dysfunction?
Article – McKinsey Quarterly
Help the boss
Leaders, for their part, can better support the bosses in their organizations by drawing on well-established literature for how to change mindsets and behaviors.
Interpersonal
relationships
39
39
Relationship with management
86
86
Job satisfaction
Drivers of satisfaction, % of respondents
56%
of American workers claim that their boss is mildly or highly toxic
75%
of Americans say that their “boss is the most stressful part of their workday”
The boss factor: Making the world a better place through workplace relationships
Article – McKinsey Quarterly
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—Robert Sutton, professor of organizational behavior, Stanford Graduate School of Business
Much research shows that being and feeling powerful provokes people to focus more on their own needs and wants, and to become oblivious to others’ needs and feelings. And as we all know, sh*t rolls downhill.”
“
Be kind
Be thankful
Be positive
Be well
Be well
Managers who prioritize their own self-care and well-being, including attention to diet, exercise, rest, and sleep, can better help others prioritize theirs.
Be well
Be positive
Validating feelings, withholding judgment, and offering support bolster motivation and increase an individual’s sense of autonomy and self-competence, which in turn is directly linked to greater happiness and well-being.
Be positive
Be thankful
Thanking team members routinely, frequently, generously, and genuinely costs nothing and sets up a positive dynamic where everyone wants to do better.
Be thankful
Be kind
Research shows that when employees perceive compassion or kindness from their leaders, they become more loyal to them. Loyalty in turn feeds better performance at work.
Research
Be kind
The boss factor: Making the world a better place through workplace relationships
Article – McKinsey Quarterly
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Start by educating bosses and supervisors about the positive and negative impact they have on the lives of the people who report to them. Bosses consistently underestimate how their actions affect and will be interpreted
by others.
Bosses consistently underestimate how their actions affect and will be interpreted
by others.
Role modeling demonstrates a leader’s personal belief and commitment to employee well-being, starting with self-reflection
to identify biases and actions that either support or undermine the job satisfaction of their direct reports.
Training for soft skills, such as providing and receiving feedback, needs to become more standard, even as organizations explore novel ways to address the loss of empathy that accompanies gains in authority.
Unless employee satisfaction, including satisfaction with an immediate boss, becomes a core part of a company’s performance evaluations, behavior is unlikely to change.
Educate
Soften
Model
Evaluate
The boss factor: Making the world a better place through workplace relationships
Article – McKinsey Quarterly
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