The One Question That Will Measure If You Are A Great Manager

Have you ever worked at a terrific organization but you also had a bad manager? If so, what was your experience? This is a question I have asked thousands of employees and the responses are always similar to the following statements:

• It turned the work I enjoyed doing into something difficult and not enjoyable.
• It made everything harder.
• It was difficult to stay motivated and do good work.
• It negatively impacted both my professional and personal life.
• And the most common answer is always – I left the organization.

One of my favorite quotes about the importance of a good manager is from the Gallup Organization which says: “The talented employee may join a company because of its charismatic leaders, its generous benefits, and its world-class training programs, but how long that employee stays and how productive he or she is while there is determined by his or her relationship with their immediate supervisor.” Companies spend countless dollars on nice facilities, fair and equitable pay, and state-of-the-art technology but if the employee feels they have a bad manager all of these other factors are diminished because the employee will struggle to stay productive and motivated.

For an employee to feel like they have a healthy and supportive relationship with their immediate manager they must believe that their manager cares about their well-being and professional success. This is why the most effective way to assess a manager’s effectiveness is to ask their employees the following question:

Do you feel your manager cares about your well-being and professional success? 

It seems like a simple question but it truly gets at the root of a successful manager and employee relationship.

How Do Managers Build Strong Relationships

The list below comes from Gallup’s research on employee engagement that shows the attributes of great managers. You will immediately notice that each of these behaviors has an emphasis on how the best managers continually work to support their employees’ well-being and performance.

• They’re results-oriented while concurrently focused on developing every worker
• They intentionally give employees a voice in decision making
• They ensure people feel connected and know how their work contributes to the team and organization.
• They routinely make people feel valued and appreciated – even nurtured
• They’re deeply caring about the well-being of every person they lead

For a manager to build a strong foundation for healthy relationships with their employees they must be willing to invest their most precious resource — time. The only way a manager can build relationships with their employees is by investing time asking questions and listening to better understand their goals, strengths, weaknesses, perspectives, and ideas for successful action. These types of conversations enable managers to establish a culture where their employees feel valued, safe, empowered, and motivated. 

3 Types of Questions Managers Should Regularly Ask Employees

1) Questions For Understanding Aspirations

• What would career success look like for you?
• What would you like to do more of? What would you like to do less of?
• What areas seem most important for you to develop at this time?
• What do you need to consider this year a success?

2) Questions For Understanding Current Context

• How do you feel about the current situation?
• What challenges are you encountering? 
• How have you invested in growing or establishing relationships (team, client, partners, etc.)?
• How do you feel about your progress on your goals?

3) Questions For Action 

• What is the main focus for your goals over the next week/month/year?
• What relationships are important for you to grow?
• What are your ideas for moving forward? 
• What do you think should be the next steps? 
• How can I support you moving forward?

When managers lead by asking questions it creates an environment where employees feel valued, competent, and in control. The insights gained from investing time in asking these types of questions enables managers to provide effective guidance, feedback, and coaching for enhancing their employees’ development and career growth. All important factors for an employee’s professional success and well-being.

This doesn’t mean that managers need to become best friends—or even be social outside of work. Each manager and employee bring their individual preferences about how to build and maintain healthy professional relationships. What it does mean is that managers need to invest time in conversations with their employees about their goals, performance, and development. This can come in quarterly, one-hour meetings or regular ongoing interactions. It doesn’t matter the approach, but what matters is that employees can answer definitively “Yes” when asked this important question:

Do you feel your manager cares about your well-being and professional success?

How would the employees that you manage answer this question?

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About the Author: Tony Gambill is the President and Founder of ClearView Leadership, an innovative leadership and talent development consulting firm helping executives and managers bring their best leadership self to their most challenging situations. Coauthor of the newly released book, Getting It Right When It Matters Most.