Research conducted by the Kenexa® Research Institute eevaluated workers’ views of their immediate managers.

The latest results from the universal study indicate that 63% of subordinate employees rate their managers as effective. Employees’ evaluations of their manager are driven by the extent to which the manager displays the fundamentals of managerial competence: treating employees fairly, doing a good job at managing the team’s work and the team itself, and providing useful feedback to the employee.

There are important differences among cultures as well. Brazilian workers rate ethical conduct as a determinant of managerial effectiveness. Indian workers are more willing to do the very best for the company and have higher feelings of job security when working for an effective manager. German workers who view their managers as effective are more satisfied with their job.

For all workers studied, good managers have a significant, favorable impact on how these workers rate their pride in their organization, willingness to recommend it as a place to work and their overall job satisfaction. Additionally, those employees who are satisfied with their manager state a much higher intention to stay with the organization versus those who are dissatisfied. Those who rate their managers as good also feel they have a promising future with the company and have confidence in the organization’s future.

“It really boils down to two fundamental truths. Effective managers are respectful, considerate and fair, as well as good organizers who can clearly communicate work expectations and provide feedback. While this is easy to grasp conceptually, many managers struggle with implementation, but for those who get it, there are huge dividends,” said Jack W. Wiley, Ph.D., executive director, Kenexa Research Institute.

Database Overview
The Kenexa WorkTrends™ database is a comprehensive normative database of employee survey results with comparisons on topics including leadership, employee engagement and customer orientation from workers in Brazil, China, Germany, India, the United Kingdom and the United States.

Study Details
The WorkTrends survey question was designed specifically to evaluate how workers view their immediate manager. The question asked was: overall, how good a job do you feel is being done by your manager?

Key Drivers Across Countries
KRI asked a representative sample of over 1,000 workers from Brazil, China, Germany, India, the United Kingdom and the United States to rate the overall effectiveness of their immediate manager. We then identified the key “drivers” of managerial effectiveness. They are shown in Figure 1.

The universal results for the six countries indicate that subordinate employees rate their managers favorably if the manager treats employees fairly, does a good job at managing the work, provides useful feedback and is a “people manager.”

In addition to the cross cultural drivers of managerial effectiveness, there are unique differences among the six countries.

1. German workers feel that an immediate manager is influential over an employee’s job satisfaction.
2. Indian workers associate an employee’s willingness to do their very best and an employee’s sense of job security with having an effective manager.
3. Brazilian workers rate ethics as a driver of managerial effectiveness.

Manager Effectiveness
Sixty-three percent of subordinate employees rate their managers as effective (see Figure 2).

Employee Engagement
The WorkTrends survey questions were designed to evaluate employee engagement. The questions asked were:

• I rarely think about looking for a new job with another company.
• I would gladly refer a good friend or family member to my company for employment.
• Overall, I am extremely satisfied with my company as a place to work.
• I am proud to tell people I work for my company.

Opinion items were rated using a 5-point Likert-like scale. The % favorable is the percentage of people who chose either of the two most positive answers (typically “strongly agree” or “agree”).

Employee engagement is calculated by averaging the percentage of favorable responses across these four items. This results in a single score that reflects the overall employee engagement.