ABSTRACT
Employees quit their managers, not their jobs—so say the results of extensive survey research conducted by the Gallup Organization (Buckingham & Coffman, 1999). A reasonable interpretation of these data is that many talented employees would stay with their employer if not for their boss. Because the immediate supervisor is the organizational authority with whom many rank-and-file employees have the most contact, the nature of employees’ relationship with their supervisor colors the perceptions they have of their employer more generally. When supervisor–subordinate relationships sour, employees are inclined to leave even if other features of the job are acceptable (e.g., pay, benefits, coworkers, growth opportunities). Indeed, negative exchanges between supervisors and subordinates underlie many indicators of individual, unit, and organizational dysfunction including diminished well-being, low morale, and performance problems (Tepper, 2007). In organizations with problems like these, higher authorities need to look first at the managers.
