What Are You Measuring When You Measure Managers? The Anatomy of First-Line Manager Questions

"First-line manager" is one of the most common categories in employee survey reports, and not everyone reading a report understands it the same way. Some think of the organization's number one manager, the CEO. Others think of the department head, and others of the team leader the employee works with every day. When results are interpreted through these different readings, the wrong people start taking action on the wrong issues.

In this post we explain what the first-line manager category means, what first-line manager questions measure and what they do not, and how to write a good manager item.

What does "first-line manager" mean?

In employee surveys, the first-line manager is the manager an employee reports to directly, one level above them in the organization chart. In this post we also call this person the direct manager. In practice, this is usually the manager who:

• Assigns the employee's daily work and priorities,
• Approves their leave and working hours,
• Conducts their performance review,
• Is the first person they turn to when they have a problem.

For a specialist this may be a team leader or a manager; for a production employee, a foreman or shift supervisor; for a manager, a director. In other words, "first-line manager" is not a job title but a relationship: everyone except the CEO has a first-line manager.

Most surveys keep this category separate from two other management-related categories:

The distinction matters because the results in each category have a different owner. First-line manager results show what each manager can do within their own team; senior leadership and organization results point to decisions that need to be made across the organization. If a reader takes the first-line manager category to be about the CEO, that ownership is turned upside down.

Whom does the survey mean by "my manager"?

Most items start with "My manager…". For most employees it is obvious who that is, but in some situations an employee may have more than one person in mind:

• Matrix structures: An employee may report both to their functional manager and to the manager of the project they work on.
• Shift and field work: For a production employee, the foreman, the shift supervisor and the department manager play different roles within the same day.
• Manager changes: An employee whose manager changed a few weeks ago may not be sure which manager to rate.
• Org chart versus daily work: Employees who formally report to a department manager but receive their work every day from a team leader.

In these situations two employees answer the same item about two different people, and the results become mixed. The fix is simple: add a short definition at the start of the manager section. For example:

In this section, "my manager" refers to the person who assigns your daily work, approves your leave and conducts your performance review.

Once you have set the definition, use hierarchy data built on the same definition in reporting. Asking employees about "the person who assigns your daily work" and then producing results by a different manager in the org chart means writing the answers into the wrong manager's report. We also cover how to set this definition for field and shift teams in how to survey blue-collar employees.

What do first-line manager questions measure?

The first-line manager category measures the leadership behaviors a team can observe every day. Their names vary from one organization to another, but these behaviors usually fall under the following headings:

• Clarifying expectations: My manager clearly communicates what is expected of me.
• Giving feedback: My manager gives me regular feedback on my work.
• Recognition: My manager notices and acknowledges when I do good work.
• Supporting development: My manager genuinely cares about my development.
• Fairness: My manager treats everyone on the team fairly.
• Openness and trust: I can comfortably share my ideas and concerns with my manager.
• Availability and support: I can reach my manager when I need to.
• Sharing information: My manager shares developments in the organization with the team in a timely way.

An engagement survey may not have room for all of these headings; four to eight items are usually enough for the first-line manager category. You can choose the headings by looking at what drives engagement most in your organization, and key driver analysis is a good starting point for that. You can find more example items for each heading in our post on manager evaluation survey questions.

What do first-line manager questions not measure?

Knowing what a category does not measure is as important as knowing what it does. First-line manager questions do not measure:

• The manager's personality. Items such as "My manager is charismatic" or "My manager is a good person" capture an overall impression rather than an observed behavior. They do not tell the manager what to do differently.
• How well liked the manager is. A well-liked manager may not give feedback; a more reserved manager may set very clear expectations. Behavior-based items make that difference visible.
• The manager's business results. Whether the team meets its targets is a matter for performance management. The survey measures the team's experience of how they are managed.
• Decisions outside the manager's authority. In an organization where pay is set by company policy, the item "My manager sets my pay fairly" holds the manager responsible for something they cannot control. Ask about the behavior the manager actually influences instead: "My manager evaluates my performance fairly." Measure pay in the organization category.

The anatomy of a good manager item

A well-written first-line manager item has five characteristics:

1. It has a clear subject. It starts with "My manager" and refers to the person defined above. General terms such as "managers", "management" or "our supervisors" blur whom the employee is thinking of.
2. It asks about an observable behavior. When answering, the employee should be able to recall a concrete situation: a feedback conversation, a moment of recognition, a leave request.
3. It asks about one thing. "My manager gives me feedback and supports my development" combines two behaviors. If one is present and the other is not, the employee does not know how to answer.
4. It rests on the employee's own experience. "My manager gives me feedback" works better than "My manager gives team members feedback", because the employee does not have to guess on behalf of others. Topics that make sense at team level, such as fairness, are the exception.
5. It uses plain, positive language. Negative and double-negative phrasing ("My manager does not avoid giving feedback") makes items harder to answer and scores harder to interpret.

The table below shows common items and better versions of them:

For general rules on writing items, see our post on common survey question mistakes.

Engagement survey or manager evaluation survey?

First-line manager behaviors can be measured in two different surveys, and the two serve different purposes:

• The manager category in an engagement survey shows how much management practice contributes to engagement across the organization. It is measured with a handful of items, and results can be read at unit or manager level.
• A manager evaluation survey gives each manager a detailed development report from their team's point of view. It includes more items and is usually used together with leadership development programs.

If you need an organization-wide picture, the category in the engagement survey is enough. If you want to build a personal development plan for every manager, a separate manager evaluation survey is more suitable. You can find the other categories of an engagement survey in our post on employee engagement survey questions.

What to watch for when reading results

First-line manager results are the most sensitive results in a survey, because they relate directly to a specific person. When reading them, keep the following in mind:

• Separate direct reports from the whole organization. A director's report may contain two kinds of results: how the managers reporting directly to them rate them, and how everyone in their organization rates their own first-line manager. The first shows the director's own management; the second shows management practice across their organization. Mixing the two holds the director responsible for the behavior of the team leaders below them.
• Apply a minimum group size. In small teams, manager results can make individuals identifiable. Do not report results for teams below a set number of responses, or combine them with the unit above. See anonymity in employee surveys for details.
• Allow for the halo effect. An employee who has a generally good relationship with their manager tends to rate every manager item high, and one with a poor relationship tends to rate them all low. Look at the differences between items rather than individual scores: if the same manager scores high on clarifying expectations and low on recognition, recognition is the real development area.
• Read manager results together with the team's other results. Dissatisfaction with workload or company policies can spill over into manager scores. If the team's scores in the organization category are also low, the issue may not lie entirely with the manager.
• Flag teams with a new manager. The answers of a team that has worked with its manager for only a few weeks are often more about the previous manager or the transition than about the new one.

Common mistakes

• Labelling the category vaguely in reports. Labels such as "1st manager" or simply "Management" are the most common reason readers think the category is about the CEO. Use a clear name such as "Direct manager" or "First-line manager", or add a short definition.
• Not defining "my manager" in the survey. In matrix structures and field teams, employees end up rating different people.
• Not updating hierarchy data. Check who reports to whom before the survey opens. An outdated org chart sends answers to the wrong manager's report.
• Using manager results for ranking or punishment. When results become a competition between managers, managers may steer their teams toward favorable answers and the measurement loses its value.
• Not discussing results with the manager. Sending the report by email is not enough. Having the manager read their results with an HR business partner or their own manager, and then share them with their team, is what turns measurement into action. Our post on what to do when employee survey results are bad can help here.

In short, the first-line manager category does not measure the company's top executive but the manager each employee works with every day, and it is the category most easily turned into action. To get there, first make clear whom "my manager" refers to, then write items that ask about behavior rather than personality and focus on one thing at a time, and read the results for each manager together with their own team.

Frequently asked questions