Munich – workers across borders are united by the longing for human bosses. In addition, employees place more value on the human factor in their executives than the executive floors of companies, as a study by the management consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG) in Germany, France, Spain and Great Britain has shown.

Last October 4,000 participants were asked which qualities are important to them in executives: heart, hand or brain. “Brain” stands for intellect and clear thinking, “hand” for action and determination and the “heart” for skills such as listening, empathy and the promotion of team spirit.

More than determination and expertise

The result: Companies place the greatest value on the head of executives (69 percent), followed by energy (44 percent). The “heart” comes last with 25 percent. With employees, however, it is the other way around: 37 percent attach the greatest importance to human qualities, 20 percent to energy, and only 14 percent to the intellect of bosses.

“The heart qualities of executives are moving more and more into the top ranks,” said BCG consultant Felix Schuler. “Empathic leadership, real solidarity with employees, listening skills.” For executives, the different expectations of employees and higher-up managers mean, according to Schuler, increased requirements: “It is no longer just the qualities demanded from above, such as determination and technical expertise asked.”

The survey also revealed that the vast majority are satisfied with the work of their superiors and management levels in the Corona crisis – the spectrum ranged from 60 percent in Spain to 71 percent in Great Britain, Germany and France were in between with 66 and 63 percent respectively.

Different development paths

However, according to the survey, only a minority in all four countries want to become leaders themselves. “About 50 percent of people want to develop professionally,” said Schuler. “But only 13 percent would like to become a manager.” The rest are also ambitious, but have different goals. “Around 50 percent of those willing to develop, there is very intense competition between very different development paths.” Schuler cited self-employment, a career as an expert or the desire for socially and socially meaningful work as examples.

The vast majority, whether ambitious or not, are quite satisfied with their working life, according to the survey. “Ninety percent of people say they feel connected to their work, there is no alienation at this point,” said Schuler. “We don’t have a population of dissatisfied people, but a population of satisfied and committed people.” (dpa)