We have frequently written that employees are looking for more than just technical competence from their boss, and a new Google survey of their own employees confirms this: employees also want a boss who listens, who is a good coach, who empowers them to achieve bigger things, who cares about their personal well-being and who can be counted on to remove roadblocks so that they can be a productive team. There are 8 things total that employees want and they all fall into trustworthy behaviors.
Bob Lintz and Mary Ellen Sheets both proved this to us. They both admitted that they did not have all the answers in leading the teams that they built, but showed their people that they cared, empowered them to do their best, and gave them the tools they needed to succeed.
Google claims in this article that these are specific too Google because it is based on their own internal data, which is good for folks to know. But, it is a good starting point for all bosses and can be an example for other companies to start finding out what unique traits their employees want from their bosses.
I coached a printer company executive once about how he needed to connect more with his employees. While he was technically competent, his employees complained (on his 360 review) that he was not accessible, did not get out of his office enough and did not have time for them. He was amazed that they needed this kind of time for him because he thought that they all knew how to do their jobs. What I helped him to realize is that while they know how to do their job, they also want to be appreciated. They want their boss to have time for them and to give them positive feedback on the job they are doing or constructive feedback if they need to improve.
As we all know (and the article reiterates), people don’t leave a company, they leave a boss.
