Leading the Way to Employee Satisfaction

Judith L. Steed and Gina Hernez-Broome

Most executives know that their performance affects the degree of satisfaction with management felt by those with whom they work: their direct reports, peers, and superiors. The feedback executives receive gives them a good idea of how effective they are as managers. But how many executives know that their performance can profoundly influence subordinates' satisfaction levels not only with management but also with the organization's climate as a whole?

For leaders, fostering a positive climate throughout the organization is an important but often overlooked responsibility. The way climate is perceived has far-reaching implications for everything from recruiting and retaining valuable employees in today's tight job market to worker stress and health, all of which in turn affect the organization's bottom line—performance and competitiveness.

Through several years of research performed with a large organization (see sidebar), the Center for Creative Leadership found several compelling results regarding the relationship between the effectiveness of managers and their subordinates' satisfaction with the company. In a nutshell, the subordinates of highly effective managers reported higher satisfaction with various aspects of the company and their work than did the subordinates of less effective managers.