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When I became a manager at Sun, they sent me to new manager training; they asked us to read a book called First, Break All the Rules which seemed to do a pretty good job of presenting a research-based approach towards management. One of the findings that the book presents is that, if you want “to attract, focus, and keep the most talented employees”, then you want employees to strongly agree with as many of the following questions as possible:

1. Do I know what is expected of me at work?
2. Do I have the materials and equipment I need to do my work right?
3. At work, do I have the opportunity to do what I do best every day?
4. In the last seven days, have I received recognition or praise for doing good work?
5. Does my supervisor, or someone at work, seem to care about me as a person?
6. Is there someone at work who encourages my development?
7. At work, do my opinions seem to count?
8. Does the mission/purpose of my company make me feel my job is important?
9. Are my co-workers committed to doing quality work?
10. Do I have a best friend at work?
11. In the last six months, has someone at work talked to me about my progress?
12. This last year, have I had opportunities at work to learn and grow?

Which looks like a pretty good list.

Different questions are relevant for different reasons: for example, they say that only the following five questions are relevant for employee retention:

1. Do I know what is expected of me at work?
2. Do I have the materials and equipment I need to do my work right?
3. At work, do I have the opportunity to do what I do best every day?
5. Does my supervisor, or someone at work, seem to care about me as a person?
7. At work, do my opinions seem to count?

That surprises me: not that those five questions don’t seem relevant to retention, but I would have expected some of the others (e.g. “Do I have a best friend at work?”) to be relevant as well.

Overall, the authors say that the first six questions are the most powerful, in that they have “the strongest links to the most business outcomes” (I believe the outcomes that they’re looking at are productivity, profitability, retention, and customer satisfaction):

1. Do I know what is expected of me at work?
2. Do I have the materials and equipment I need to do my work right?
3. At work, do I have the opportunity to do what I do best every day?
4. In the last seven days, have I received recognition or praise for doing good work?
5. Does my supervisor, or someone at work, seem to care about me as a person?
6. Is there someone at work who encourages my development?

Unsurprisingly, these lists are consistent with the advice given by another one of my favorite research-based management books, The Progress Principle. For example, the latter book lists the following as “The Seven Major Catalysts”:

1. Setting clear goals
2. Allowing autonomy
3. Providing resources
4. Giving enough time—but not too much
5. Help with the work
6. Learning from problems and successes
7. Allowing ideas to flow

(Though there are certainly items on each book’s list that aren’t on the other’s.) The Progress Principle also lists the following as “The Four Major Nourishers”: Respect, Encouragement; Emotional Support; and Affiliation; these all fit squarely into the list from First, Break All the Rules, and they give the following recommendations for leaders when it comes to nourishing:

• Do: Show that you respect people and the work they do.
• Do: Recognize and reward the accomplishments of your people.
• Do: When needed, provide emotional support to those who work under you.
• Do: Create opportunities for the development of friendship and camaraderie in the team.
• Don’t: Act dismissive, discourteous, or patronizing.
• Don’t: Display apathy toward your team members or their projects.
• Don’t: Obfuscate roles, responsibilities, and formal relationships, or change them haphazardly.

Again, all of those do’s show up on First, Break All the Rules‘s list, and they’re all consistent with my personal subjective perceptions.

Returning to First, Break All the Rules, that book follows up the aforementioned lists with a section entitled “Managers Trump Companies”:

Once a year a study is published entitled “The Hundred Best Companies to Work For.” The criteria for selection are such factors as Does the company have an on-site day care facility? How much vacation does the company provide? Does the company offer any kind of profit sharing?

…

Our research suggests that these criteria miss the mark. It’s not that these employee-focused initiatives are unimportant. It’s just that your immediate manager is more important. She defines and pervades your work environment. If she sets clear expectations, knows you, trusts you, and invests in you, then you can forgive the company its lack of a profit-sharing program. But if your relationship with your manager is fractured, then no amount of in-chair massaging or company-sponsored dog walking will persuade you to stay and perform. It is better to work for a great manager in an old-fashioned company than for a terrible manager in a company offering an enlightened, employee-focused culture.

Indeed.