According to a study by the institute of the german economy, which is close to employers, only 69 percent of employees receive support from their boss at least sometimes.
EU average is 81 percent. "It’s the managers who matter," said IW director michael huther in berlin on monday. Job satisfaction is more important than pay for many employees. A good boss works wonders.
The institute analyzed data from the EU organization eurofund with 2,000 respondents in germany. In addition, there were further domestic data from the years 2010 to 2012.
According to the survey, 88 percent of employees in germany are satisfied with their work – a figure that has remained largely constant over the years. Germany ranks ninth out of the 31 countries surveyed. Top of the league is denmark, bottom of the league is albania. The result for germany is more or less in line with the OECD’s findings.
The institute attributes the fact that, according to health insurance companies, more employees are retiring due to mental illness to the fact that depression and other mental disorders are being diagnosed more frequently than in the past.
According to the federal institute for occupational safety and health, many people feel burdened by the fact that they have to take care of several tasks at the same time. Pressure to meet deadlines and perform, as well as constant interruptions, stress a large proportion of employees.
"There can be no question of working conditions having systematically deteriorated in recent years," huther stressed. The institute’s study showed that many people had problems at work, especially under stress and time pressure.
This is true at least some of the time, for example during project phases, the head of the study, oliver stettes, added. "Stress has a negative impact if it leads to long-term overload."
According to the study, money does not play as big a role for german employees as it does in many southern european countries. 82 percent of those who think they get too little are nevertheless satisfied with their work. Among those who are satisfied with their salaries, 95 percent say they are satisfied. In many countries, however, this difference is more pronounced.
"A high salary, good career opportunities and a secure job ensure that employees are satisfied," said huther. However, according to the survey, it is also important to exert influence, for example on the organization of work, the choice of team colleagues and the agreement of goals.
According to IW data, about half of the companies train their managers. The german federation of trade unions also found that the quality of leadership in germany is average.