Workers Overwhelmingly Trust Their Boss

October 10, 2003 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - While it probably will cost more than $2 an hour and full access to the frig, 73% of American workers trust their boss so much, they would let them baby-sit their kids for a night.

The nod of confidence comes at a time when corporate scandals headline the nightly news accusing corporate higher ups of all sorts of skullduggery. Yet, when it comes to getting the job done, workers turn to their supervisors, with 72% saying if it were up to them, they would hire their boss, according to the latest release of The Marlin Company’s Attitudes in the American Workplace IX study.

“Employees obviously respect what their bosses do,” said Frank Kenna III, president of The Marlin Company. In fact, bosses are even being proactive in earning that respect, with 58% of workers saying their bosses are even taking the initiative to improve morale. This corresponds with earlier reported results from Marlin, where 54% of workers said management is helping employees deal with stress (See Workplace ‘Miss Manners’ Hard to Find These Days ).

Respect notwithstanding, most employees think “better you than me” when it comes to their boss’s job. Nearly three-quarters (74%) say they do not want their boss’s job. In “no way do they want their jobs, especially with all the headaches of managing-the paperwork, the meetings, the long hours, the downsizings and the constant pressure to be more productive with less. Since 9/11, our surveys have shown that workers want very much to enrich their family lives, and many are more than willing to do so at the expense of their own ambitions,” adds Kenna.

The survey was conducted by Harris Interactive between May 22 and May 29, 2003 and covered 752 US workers.

«