What Do Employees Want?

A Good Manager

Since one of the top reasons employees leave an organization is because of a bad manager, it’s important to know what employees want, to help avoid losing them for this preventable reason. At the same time these wants have to be considered in addition to what managers want, to merge all the wants together for a seamless positive experience for everyone.

In a recent article written for Small Business Trends by Rieva Lesonsky the qualities employees most want in a manager include:
- Ability to give honest feedback
- Experience in the field
- Trustworthiness
- Makes time for employees
- Collaborative

Managers want to be perceived as:
- Mentors (matches employees’ desire for an encouraging manager)
- Teachers
- Supervisors or coaches

Lesonsky makes an insightful comment with respect to what Millennial employees want. For this group, it is important to remember they have grown up getting a lot of feedback from parents and teachers so, not surprisingly, they look for this to continue on in their relationships with their managers.

Here is what Millennials are saying:
- 25 percent of employees overall say their professional growth is due to a good manager, 36 percent of Millennials feel this way
- They are twice as likely as other generations to say they want direct reports to think of them as a “best friend” (20 percent, compared to 10 percent of Gen X and Baby Boomers)
- While most employees don’t want to be managers, Millennials do…82% want to be managers (preferably people who are not older than them though)

What do these findings mean for your business?
- Focus on encouraging employees’ career development.
- Provide regular feedback to all employees, especially Millennial workers.
- Be collaborative. Having employees work in teams will expose them to managerial-level employees they can learn from.
- Consider giving Millennials the opportunity to lead a younger group of employees, perhaps to welcome, mentor or train new entry level staff or interns.

If you want to know what people in your organization think and feel, an employee survey can provide the insight you need to make positive changes within your organization. Measuring the well being of your organization is our specialty because we are passionate about success for your organization, your employees and your customers.

For more information or to request a quote please visit us at www.insightlink.com.

Original Article here::
http://smallbiztrends.com/2014/12/what-do-your-employees-want-from-managers.html