How important is the right manager for job satisfaction?

My various work experiences have shown me there is a wide variety of supervisors and managers. The right one can make or break your workplace. At one job, the manager was fine for the most part and I got along well with her. However, if there was something that threw her off balance, her reaction was to reprimand everyone, making the people around her as unhappy as she was. Another supervisor was a great person for training and supporting a new addition to the department and ensured I was competent in my job. However, when I was looking for challenges, he had trouble fostering new skills that did not directly benefit him and the department. As a result, I felt confined and bored, and decided to seek another position.

During my schooling, my graduate advisor was a very hands off professor. At first, this did not seem to be a problem because there were other people in lab I could ask, but as I progressed in my career, being unable to pin him down contributed to my dissatisfaction with graduate school. This experience was in complete contrast to my previous university advisor who had an open door policy and was happy to answer my questions at any time, no matter how large or small. Furthermore, he was also willing to acknowledge what he did not know and encouraged me to find answers elsewhere.

In my current position, I have found a rare supervisor. When I interviewed for the department, every person I talked to who worked for my future manager had nothing but positive things to say about her. If that is not testament enough, the position I was interviewing for was the first open in the department in three years, a low turnover rate for the entire company. In fact, I am still the newest person and I have been part of the department for five years. I have experienced the powers of a good boss for myself and I am thrilled to find what I have desired. My supervisor is a great advocate for our department and each person in the department. She offers us the opportunity to learn new skills and encourages us to set personal development goals. She suggests new possibilities or offers new opportunities, is approachable and even works right alongside everyone she supervises. In fact, she even takes on some of the worst projects to let the rest of us take care of other business, and she gave me a promotion without me having to advocate it. Yes, she recognizes people and is generous when she does so.

Why am I singing the praises of my boss? Because it makes a tremendous difference for job satisfaction. There are days when going to work is harder than others, but I have been in my department for five years, the longest I have been in any location ever. A good supervisor who values her employees is an asset and makes working for someone else a more positive experience.

How do you get yourself a great boss if you don't have one? If you are interviewing for a position, ask lots of questions about the manager's style. Keep in mind what you want in a boss and lacking that, what you don't want in a boss. I knew I did not like micromanagers, people who did not encourage me or who were inaccessible prior to my current position. A few example questions that might get at what you might expect from your potential supervisor:

• How would you describe your manager's style?


• Do you feel appreciated in your position?


• If you ran into trouble with someone in another department, would your supervisor back you up?


• Please give me examples of how your manager helped you develop new skills on the job.

Some people can cope better with poor managers than I can. However, I find that is does affect how happy I am in a particular position. For me, I need someone who is going to be encouraging, accessible and pushes me to do better. Since a supervisor has power over me, I feel better with someone that will be an advocate rather than leaving me alone or even harming my position.

How do you feel about your supervisor?

Workplace worries

It is interesting to learn how each of us feel we are vulnerable at work. Recently, 70% of one of the departments at my workplace was let go--including the Vice President in charge of the department. While we had been seeing some reorganization with occasional "release" of people without positions, there was no wholesale firings. With this latest salvo, all of us in my department became more concerned with how long we might have our jobs.

Honestly, I believe that more people would be fired before anyone in our department would be touched. We are intimately connected to the company's Web content and technical literature so wholesale firing will not happen. In fact, we have enough work that we could take on another person or two to help out.

I have been in my department for 4.5 years but I still the newest person in the department. If nothing else, I can imagine that the newest person would be fired first. One of my colleagues thinks that since she does not have a computer at home (and in many ways, only tolerates her computer at work), she is more vulnerable because she is not technosavvy. Another person who runs much of the administrative work in our department feels that when the content management system is put into place, she is out of a job.

I feel both of these people add more to their job than lack of technology knowledge and entering and keeping track of lots of data. However, the end result is that even if you have 20 years with a company, they can still make a financial decision and let you go. I know that in three years or so, I will have to decide if I keep my position with the company, ask to change the situation (e.g., part-time with a mostly telecommuting option) or leave. Hopefully, my company and I will not part ways until I am ready, not because the restructuring left me out of my position.

How vulnerable are you feeling at work?

Being safe in a turbulent world

During a recent family gathering, my siblings and I were discussing crimes. I mentioned that a couple years ago, my city had a rash of home break ins where teenagers were getting into homes through unlocked sliding glass doors and taking purses from kitchen tables. Since I emphasized the unlocked doors, my brother commented "So are you saying they asked for it?" My response: "No one asks for that but I believe in being cautious."

What do I mean by being cautious? For example, placing a sturdy piece of wood or length of metal pipe to prevent the sliding door from opening more than a few inches is a good precaution to take to deter intruders and still get the air circulating in the home. If a person might be looking for a crime of opportunity (e.g., unlocked door and visible purse), making it more difficult to get access to the home may help prevent your home from being invaded.

What does this have to do with money aside from the obvious? Having a savings account and spending less than you earn is one way to be safer in a world determined to part you from your money. By playing defense with your earnings, putting away the extra and accumulating a stash of money over time, you can reduce and eliminate debt, cover unexpected emergency expenses and even support yourself in case of job loss or injury.

No one likes to consider the worst case scenario. Despite my own health scare a year ago, I still have not put together a will. However, I could cover my living expenses for at least 10 months if I became sick and unable to work. I also have disability insurance through my workplace that would cover part of my salary during my illness or injury.

By earning more than I spend and saving what I can, I have built up a cushion of money that can help me through many obstacles. While contemplating the loss of a job is no fun, I know I have some time before money gets critical, which is better than losing my job and wondering how I will pay all my bills next month.

Like keeping a length of wood in a sliding door to deter thieves, a savings account can alleviate some of the anxiety of financial emergencies or job loss. The risk is not eliminated as I could be searching for a job longer than my 10 months worth of savings, but I can minimize the effects of a turbulent job market (and reduce my stress) by having money to help me through any rough spots I encounter.

Being prepared in an unstable world

The only debt I currently hold is my mortgage debt. I live off less than 50% of my gross income from my current job and can comfortably afford my mortgage and other expenses. If the worst comes along, how prepared am I to pay for my necessities?

Keep an emergency savings of at least three month's expenses.
This is in place with additional savings if I raid the accounts that are funding my savings goals. This means at my current expense level, I can afford to draw down my savings before I run into financial troubles. Of course, there are expenditures I can cut in the face of no income that would also help stretch my savings.

Update your resume.
Unfortunately, I am not prepared. I have two things working against me: complacency in my job and laziness. While I have thought about updating my resume, I have not translated this into action. There are always other things (gardening, my cats, other issues) that arise and distract me from this task. The way to turn this around: decide to take action and make it a priority.

Maintain your network.
Keeping in touch with your neighbors, friends, acquaintances, current and former colleagues will only help if you lose your job. The more people you can ask for help, the more likely you are to find something because they know something of you. My network is rather small but I leverage it as well as I can when I need help. While I have yet to do this, make sure your LinkedIn profile is up-to-date and your virtual network ready to tap. In this market, the want ads are sparse and finding job leads are difficult.

While I believe my job is secure, it behooves me to be prepared in the event I am downsized or I find an opportunity I want to pursue. A current resume with a great network and several months of expenses saved are a good basis for continuing that mortgage payment and other financial obligations without wondering where the money will come from.