Why do Employees prefer: A Good Boss or Good Remuneration

Contrary to previous research findings that indicate that employees opt for a good boss when asked to choose between that and good remuneration; our findings this year seem to contradict these findings. About half of the participants (50.3 percent) said they would rather have better remuneration (salaries and benefits) than a good boss (immediate manager). 49.7 percent of the participants said they would rather have a good boss than a better remuneration. These findings seem to be driven more by the current difficult economic environment. 509 participants responded to this survey. I list below more findings from this research:

•  Most of the participants said their main reasons for choosing better remuneration over good bosses are because they are able to handle bad bosses (29 percent), they want to take care of the family (28 percent), remuneration motivates and helps them to focus and add value in return (18 percent) and 14 percent said they are trying to survive in the current economy.
• Most of the participants said their main reasons for choosing good bosses over better remuneration are because good bosses empower them to do more at work (56 percent), a friendship and supportive environment enhances productivity (24 percent) and they spend most of their time at work so they need to look forward to a conducive working environment (17 percent).
• Majority of the participants (61.1 percent) are not confident that their bosses do not feel insecure in their position because some of the subordinates are better than them and 38.9 percent of the participants are confident that their bosses feel insecure in their position because some of the subordinates are better than them.
•  A large proportion of the participants (72.3 percent) like their bosses and 27.7 percent of the participants do not like their bosses.
• Most of the Executive participants (74.4 percent) prefer a good boss rather than better remuneration. A large proportion (average of 52.0 percent) of the participants from Senior Management level and below prefer better remuneration rather than a good boss.

Memory Nguwi is an Occupational Psychologist, Data Scientist, Speaker, & Managing Consultant – Industrial Psychology Consultants (Pvt) Ltd a management and human resources consulting firm. https://www.linkedin.com/in/memorynguwi/ Phone 481946-48/481950/2900276/2900966 or email: mnguwi@ipcconsultants.com or visit our website at www.ipcconsultants.com