← Back to Research
Industry Research

Manager Quality = 80% of Job Satisfaction

Gallup's State of the Global Workplace research reveals what actually predicts job happiness

Source
Gallup
Year
2023
Sample Size
25M+ employees

Key Findings

  • Manager quality is #1 predictor of employee engagement and satisfaction
  • Manager determines 80% of job satisfaction—more than company, role, or salary
  • Employees with great managers are 2.5x more likely to be engaged
  • Most job seekers don't meet their future manager 1:1 before accepting

Why This Matters

When evaluating a job offer, most people focus on salary, benefits, and company reputation. But your manager determines 80% of your job satisfaction—and most people don't even meet them before accepting.

ReasonKit's GigaThink tool forces you to ask: "Who is my manager? Did I meet them 1:1? What happened to the last person in this role?" These questions predict satisfaction better than any salary negotiation.

Related Research

This connects to LinkedIn research showing that 73% of job changers regret "culture mismatch" they didn't catch. The questions that predict satisfaction (manager quality, team dynamics) are the ones most people don't ask.

Access the Research

State of the Global Workplace 2023 (PDF) Why Great Managers Are So Rare
← View All Research Sources