Trust in Management Is More Important than Money

Every time I meet with candidates who are interested in a job at Monster, I always get the same question: What is the salary? I always laugh at this. They don’t even know what the job entails yet, but if the pay is right, they think they will be happy. This is just not true.

Economists John Helliwell and Haifang Huang at the University of British Columbia recently confirmed the belief that money is not everything with a formula that can measure your true job satisfaction. They found trust in management was the biggest factor. If you get a new boss and your trust in management goes up at your job (say, up one point on a 10-point scale), that's like getting a 36 percent pay raise, considering your overall satisfaction. Getting a raise on the same scale is only likely to boost your overall satisfaction with your job by less than a point on a 10-point scale.

There is a common saying in the human resources world: People don’t leave jobs, they leave managers. While everyone wants to make more money, salary alone is usually not why we leave.

Keep this in mind when looking for a job. And ask questions about management style to make sure it fits in with how you like to be managed.

For more on this topic, check out these resources:

• “Building Trust in the Office”

• “Don't Let Money Lead You Down the Wrong Career Path”

• “Money Isn't the Only Way to Get Paid on the Job”

• “Ten Tips for Staying Happy at Work”
  

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