How to be a great boss

Employees want to work for someone who they perceive as fair, open, and honest. Those are the qualities most often mentioned in surveys of employees about their managers and supervisors. Workers want to fell good about the person they report to and the company they work for.

This relationship between employee and supervisor is also the key to retention and engagement, according to the Gallup Organization. It has done extensive surveys and research on employee engagement by the development of 12 questions (Q12).

When employees were asked to consider their workplace relationships with their managers, the survey results revealed sharp differences between how engaged and actively disengaged employees feel. In answering the statement regarding managers, "This person and I have one of the strongest personal relationships in my life," 16% of engaged employees strongly agreed. In contrast, 80% of actively disengage employees strongly disagreed that their relationship with their manager was important.