Front-line Employee
Keep good working relationship with supervisor.
Some participants mentioned that they hope to have a good relationship with their supervisors. It might make they feel more satisfied if their supervisor treat them as following behaviors.
“I hoped that supervisor treated us without the class consciousness. Because all of us
work in the same workplace, the supervisor should not pose a huge pressure on us by the standpoint of supervisor. If a supervisor did that to us, the employees would feel unhappy and complained of the supervisor.” [Ba0303]
“I felt that the relationship with supervisor should be different depending on situation.
After work, I preferred to interact with my supervisor like friend. However, I thought I should respect to my supervisor at work.” [Fa0303]
“I did not hope my supervisor would lead me with enforcement method. I preferred that
my supervisor would treat me with caution and strictness.” [Ia0203]
Providing work autonomy.
Two participants stated that they prefer to possess work autonomy and freedom from their supervisor/ manager. They desired to be trusted by their supervisor/ manager. They would feel satisfied if their supervisor/ manager could provide them with enough freedom at work.
“Let me do the work without too many restrictions if we did not have serious problem at work. I would be satisfied with that.” [Aa0303]
“For example, supervisor could tell us what we should do and allow us to think how we
can complete the task. We did not have to follow his approaches to complete the task.
Which I thought would be better if he could allow us to think how to complete the task.”
[Ha0303]
Expressing concerns on employees.
One participant expressed her opinions if she was a supervisor. The researcher asked her how she would do if she was a supervisor to explore what kind of leadership she likes.
“If I would a supervisor, I would concern subordinate’s learning progress and confirmed
with him or her. Besides, I would to understand if there were any working content need to be improved or anything else he or she could learn.”[Da0404]
One participant hoped that supervisor could help to solve her doubts or problems positively.
“I would feel satisfied if my supervisor tried to figure out the problems we proposed.”
[Ba0303]
Supervisor/ manager
Providing specific goals and work autonomy.
Some participants disclosed that they hoped the supervisor could provide them
specific direction and goal. Besides, they also hoped supervisor could give them more autonomy at work.
“You could give me a direction and did not interfere with details. I would do my best to achieve the goal you want.” [Ab0302]
“I hoped that she did not intervene with too many details and empowered me to deal with the work dependently. What I needed to do is report to her and let she know my
work progress and the conclusion I made.” [Bb0303]
“My supervisor hoped that we could find solutions to the problems and report to him by
ourselves. However, under the situation with a lot of uncertainty, I hoped my supervisor could provide me with a flow or something to follow.” [Gb0303]
“The leadership style I liked should be specific. My supervisor had to point out a
blueprint that I could totally imagine it. For example, he should tell me that he wanted to do the business bigger, increase the turnover, or how many product items he wanted to increase in catering.” [Hb0303]
Keeping good relationship with supervisor.
Tow participants hoped to work in a workplace without pressure from their supervisors.
They desired to have harmony relationship with supervisor instead of a strained relationship.
“Normally, I had to manage employees at the store. However, I though overbearing behavior might cause the employees stressful. I didn’t like it.” [Db0303]
“I hoped that every employee could work here without work pressure and regarded this
store as their family.” [Eb0302]
Taking the lead and demonstration.
Two participants hoped that supervisor could lead and teach them personally. It could make them feel more security and confortable in the workplace.
“I hoped that my supervisor could teach me patiently if there were some operations I was not familiar with, and listened to each other’s opinions.” [Ab0303]
“Because I was not a smart person, I might hope that my supervisor could lead me to do the work together. I thought it would be better for me.” “I hoped my supervisor not only told me what I should do but also demonstrated the operation to me in person.”
[Gb0303]
Encouragement and support.
The following two participants mentioned their supervisor’s leading behavior. Both of them were satisfied with their supervisor’s leadership style at this moment. They were satisfied with their supervisors leading them with encouragement and support.
“I took my supervisor as someone I wanted to be in the future. His leading method was
quite simple. He hoped that we could try to contact with customers frequently. He always encouraged us to greet each customer positively.” [Cb0303]
“My supervisor always reminded me to do something indirectly, he never commanded
me directly to do anything I forgot to do. Besides, he would give me a direction to complete the work. He always communicated with me by giving me suggestions instead of commanding. I thought this kind of method was pretty good.” [Fb0303]
Summary
In this section, front-line employees and supervisors/ managers was desired to have a good relationship with their leaders. The interaction with supervisors was one of important leadership behavior for most participants. In addition, work autonomy was also one important factor to satisfying many participants. They hoped to exert their ideas and do the work independently.