Poll reveals: what Russians really think about their bosses

Russians employees do not care as much about the final product of their work as they do of their personal interactions at work.

No matter how banal this may sound, but good relations between employers and employees increase people's work ethic and help in the successful development of any business. Such conclusion has been reached by the “Public Opinion” fund. After surveying 2100 people, 84% of the respondents wholeheartedly agreed with the above statement.

37% of the respondents described their relationships with their bosses as “good”. Only 8% of Russians evaluated their relationships as “unsatisfactory”. It should be mentioned, that majority of the respondents were residents of small suburban towns with average and low income.

As it turns out, more than a third of people work in a peaceful environment. They also informed of no reported instances of any conflicts between employees and their bosses within their work environments in the course of the past 2-3 years. 14% of Russians however admitted that conflicts had taken place in their offices. Nevertheless, about a third of all the respondents claims that their supervisors often tend to listen to their employees’ opinions. Fifth of the people however admit that they have to witness exactly the opposite.

The following is a collaborative portrait of “the perfect boss”. According to 45% of Russian employees, the perfect boss has to “care about his subordinates,” “be involved in peoples’ problems,” “be sympathetic”, “think about the company's tomorrow.”

More than a fifth expects their boss to possess “good organizational skills.” While another 15 % wants “professionalism” from their supervisor. About the same amount of people wishes their boss to possess decent moral values. People want their leaders to be honest, loyal, kind, and just.

Every tenth survey participant declared that “the perfect leader” should be able to “deal with problems efficiently” and “possess clear vision of any situation”.

Interestingly, but only 8% of the respondents value brains and education level of their superiors. Only 1-4% of people remarked that they would like to have a boss with a “sense of humor,” “shy”, “a good drinking partner”, “be able to admit his mistakes.” Some claimed Lenin and Putin to fit the criteria of “the perfect leader”.

Finally, let us present a portrait of a “bad boss.” Majority of respondents described the worse leader as someone who constantly places his personal interests before those of the group, the one who accepts bribes, and a careerist. The worst leaders turned out to be those who “steal from the company” and “steal boldly.” 19% responded that they do not tolerate those supervisors “who are absolutely indifferent towards employees’ problems.”

There are also those bosses who are absolutely unable to “supervise” a team of workers. They do not permit people to work to their fullest potential and feel satisfied, the one who talks a lot and does not do much.

“Interestingly, people tend to put one’s personal qualities in the first place,” reported Director of the Public Fund’s Analytical Department Grigory Kertman. “Perhaps, this has to do with the fact that an average employee cares less about the final outcome of his/her work as he/she does of personal interaction.” 

Also, people tend to dislike supervisors who “yell,” those who are “aggressive,” and the ones who “demean their employees in front of others.” 1-10% of respondents provided the following characteristics of the “worst boss”: “unprofessional”, “self-loving”, “does not understand life,” “ is interested only in getting the work done,” “fool,” “bastard,” “smart, but asshole.” 

Psychologist of Moscow's Socio-Psychological Center “Vera” Valentina Morozova claims that “such high percentage of ‘personal’ characteristics in the portraits of 'the perfect' and 'the worst' boss has to do with the fact that Russians, unlike their Western colleagues, tend to put their work relationships before work itself! Not everybody realizes that a person can in fact be a good leader while lacking decent interpersonal qualities.”