Employees who have a friendly relationship with their boss earn more – Survey

How do employees view present-day leaders? What kind of relationship do they have with their direct superiors? The Paylab.com salary portal completed an international employee survey on the characteristics that contemporary managers lack the most. The survey is part of PAYLAB COMPENSATION MONITOR which observes on regular basis trends related to remuneration. They asked employees in 11 countries across Europe to evaluate their direct supervisor. The portal also examined how their relationship with their boss influenced their salaries.

The survey was conducted from July to September 2017 over a sample of 52,120 respondents working in all current industries, positions and levels of management.

Paylab 2017 INFOGRAPHIC Paylab Compensation Monitor leadership my manager direct supervisor relations employee surve

What kind of relationship do employees have with their direct superiors?

Four in ten employees characterise their relationship with their boss as neutral to negative. Specifically, 35 per cent of respondents have a reserved relationship with their boss with a distinct feeling of mutual distance. A further 4 per cent of employees report that their relationship with their direct supervisor is cold to unfriendly in nature.

People who earn above the national average often have a more friendly relationship with their direct supervisor with those who earn below the national average. The right remuneration is the one of the key pillars of correct relationships with direct superiors.

61 per cent of respondents report a friendly relationship with their boss. An interesting finding is that people with a friendly relationship with their boss have salaries that are roughly 14 per cent higher than respondents who have a reserved or unfriendly relationship with their boss. This difference in salary, connected to the type of relationship with the boss, was noted in all countries where the survey was conducted.

The survey also indicates that people in management positions, qualified technical employees, IT employees and employees 35 and younger in general have better relationships with their supervisors.

What traits are contemporary managers lacking the most?

Employees agree that modern leaders suffer from an acute lack of fairness, sincerity, communicativeness and willingness. These are traits and behaviours that employees rarely see in their bosses and mention most often.

People who have a friendly relationship with their supervisors most often complain that their boss lacks courage and decisiveness and is not creative enough. People who earn above the country average most often complain that their boss lacks charisma.

Employees with a reserved to cold relationship with their boss most often note that their boss shows a lack of appreciation and respect from their boss as well as a lack of trust. They also doubt their boss’ competencies and report that they lack professionalism and experience.

Men most often occupy the boss’s chair

The survey also confirmed the long-term trend of the lack of engagement of women in senior management positions. Having a man for a boss is twice as likely as having a female boss. Employees managed by women provide very similar assessments to those managed by men, both in terms of their relationships and the traits they are lacking.

Source: Paylab.com