Do Skilled Bosses Raise Worker Satisfaction?

Bosses and their ability to connect and inspire employees are an important consideration for job satisfaction. Research also indicates that managers who are highly skilled also raise job satisfaction lending support to the idea that those who can step into their employee's jobs, as well as do their own, are seen with high esteem and have an impact on employee retention. Should you pull the next manager from the ranks?

Job skills come from those who have done the job!  Companies should not be afraid to promote their highest performing and most knowledgeable employees. It is believed that promoting technicians to management resulted in disaster and exodus of employees because of lack of emotional intelligence. This exodus apparently is not always the case.

Certainly, there are technicians that do not have the right traits or personality to be bosses. They lack the management and social skills to function with others in higher pressure situations. When given an opportunity to promote a technician with practical skills or an outside boss without specific job skills, the former is more beneficial.

The study looked at over 27,000 people and came to the conclusion that job satisfaction is positively correlated to job skill. People see such bosses in higher light because they respect their abilities. In essence, the boss has credibility because they have functioned the job before. Knowing that your manager knows your work tasks seems to bring a level of comfort and esteem.

The application can be practical for promotion and recruitment. The study indicates that universities should promote performing faculty into administrative positions, star I.T. employees to supervisors, and trained manufacturing workers into bosses. Internal promotion can help with retention and job growth as skilled and experienced employees are capable of moving up the ranks to create positive results with more satisfied employees.

Artz, B., Goodall, A. & Oswald, A. (2017). Boos competence and worker well-being. ILR Review, 70 (2). http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0019793916650451