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Research Methodology • 279


        organizations. A total of 7,484 leaders were assessed on their leadership effec-
        tiveness, and their direct reports were asked to indicate the extent to which they
        considered leaving their jobs and going to another organization. The percent-
        ages represent the percent of employees who responded in a neutral or negative
        way to the item. Intention to leave is an excellent predictor of actual turnover
        with about 50% of the employees who think about quitting actually turning over.
        The leadership effectiveness index was divided into 10 groups based on the
        distribution of the data. The groups ranged in size from 781 to 609 employees.



        Evaluating the Relationship Between Managerial
        Effectiveness and Customer Satisfaction
        (Figure 2-5)

        A high-tech communications company conducted a company-wide employee
        survey and the same year collected 360-degree survey results from 612 man-
        agers. The 360-degree survey results were merged with the employee survey
        data. The 360-degree survey was customized with 50 items designed to meas-
        ure overall leadership effectiveness. The aggregate of the 360-degree survey
        items formed the leadership effectiveness index. The employee survey was
        aggregated and merged with the aggregate 360-degree results. The data set also
        contained additional demographics. The employee survey contained a series
        of items measuring customer satisfaction. Percentile scores were calculated on
        the customer and intention to stay measures for the 612 managers. Percentile
        scores for the leadership effectiveness index were calculated and then divided
        into the bottom 20 percent, the middle 60 percent, and the top 20 percent.



        Replications of Findings

        Since publishing the original version of this book, we have been engaged with
        hundreds of organizations in replicating the relationship between leadership
        effectiveness and critical organizational outcomes. After conducting all of
        these studies, it has become clear that there is consistency in the findings. We
        have never studied an organization where there was not a strong relationship
        between leadership effectiveness and employee satisfaction/commitment. The
        studies on intention to quit and percentage of highly committed employees
        are also very consistent. In spite of telling our clients about the number of
        replications of the research, they are always more fascinated by seeing the
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