There are a lot of elements to being a good boss that you don't quite appreciate until you're actually in a position of authority. At first blush, it may seem like the position is pretty cut and dry – ensuring that the work gets done, that workers are paid for their services and that their employee benefits are sufficient, just to name a few.
But how do you be a boss that staff members can be proud of, confident in the fact that the head of their company is an effective manager? This is a question that was put to more than 2,250 full-time employees in a poll performed by staffing firm Randstad.
A key trait of being a good boss, according to respondents, is attentiveness, particularly to your subordinates. Nearly three-quarters of the survey's participants said that good managers valued their workers' opinions. When asked if this was something that they experienced in the workplace, close to 60 percent of workers confirmed that it was.
An ability to imbue willpower and a sense of inspiration is also indicative of a high quality manager. A majority of respondents in the survey said that their boss was able to galvanize his or her workers to not only do a job, but to do it well. Younger workers – Generation Y – tended to be more inspired by their bosses than others at 60 percent, particularly compared to Baby Boomers at slightly over 50 percent.
Bosses are accessible
Though the role of a boss can typically be a trying one – requiring you to juggle several tasks at once – effective bosses strive to be accessible. Close to 3 in 4 said that their boss was usually reachable at any given point in the day. At 75 percent, men were more likely to indicate this versus women.
Michelle Prince, head of talent management at Randstad, pointed out that boss-to-employee relationships are hugely important in today's marketplace.
"With the economy continuing to improve and the job market showing promise, many business leaders are increasingly focused on retaining their best and brightest employees, and studies show that a job-deciding factor for many workers is the type of relationship they have with their boss," said Prince. "Healthy manager-employee relationships are built on clear communication, trust and respect. When all of these factors are in place, the result can lead to a harmonious, productive work environment."
A substantial percentage of Americans say that they currently have a boss who meets the definition of what they would consider to be a good leader. Roughly 75 percent of workers in a separate study performed by OfficeTeam said that their boss's leadership skills were "somewhat" or "very" strong. Additionally, when asked if they could do a better job than their supervisor, more than two-thirds said no.
This past Oct. 16 was National Boss's Day, which was first recognized as such in 1962. The concept for the day of observance took place in 1958, inspired by an insurance employee named Patricia Bays Haroksi of Deerfield, Illinois.
