Manager Support Benchmark 2026: How Employees Rate Manager Support at Work

Manager Support scores 8.32 out of 10 in CultureMonkey's 2026 benchmark, 4th of 22 engagement drivers, with a 0.28 correlation to eNPS (17th strongest of 22).

Based on ~253,000 survey answers.Q3 2026 dataLast updated: October 2026

Industries, regions and company sizes appear here only when they have at least 3 companies for Manager Support, so this page can list fewer than the parent's segment tables. Industry rankings cover the 14 industries with a full driver breakdown.

SNAPSHOT

Manager Support benchmark for 2026 at a glance

Score

8.32 / 10

Link to eNPS (r)

0.28

17th strongest of 22

Top quartile starts at

8.65

How much of the ten-point scale Manager Support reaches

8.32 out of 10 across all companies

Top quartile starts at 8.65

The filled wedge is the all-company score as a share of the full ten-point scale, and the marker on the outside shows where the top quartile begins.

HIGHEST

Industries where employees rate Manager Support highest

Healthcare employees rate Manager Support joint highest, at 8.54 out of 10. That puts it 0.22 above the all-company Manager Support score of 8.32.
Retail employees rate Manager Support joint highest, at 8.54 out of 10. That puts it 0.22 above the all-company Manager Support score of 8.32.

Industries that rate Manager Support highest

Healthcare8.54

Retail8.54

6.00Driver score, 0 to 10 scale, axis truncated at 6.00 so differences are visible10.00

This segmentAll companies 8.32

Each dot marks one segment's score on a shared scale. The upright line is the all-company score for this driver, so the further a dot sits from it, the further that segment is from the benchmark. Only industries with enough answers to report are shown.

See employee engagement scores for every industry.

LOWEST

Industries where employees rate Manager Support lowest

Construction and Heavy Industry employees rate Manager Support lowest, at 8.06. That puts it 0.26 below the all-company Manager Support score of 8.32.
Finance employees rate Manager Support second lowest, at 8.26 out of 10. That puts it 0.06 below the all-company Manager Support score of 8.32.
Manufacturing employees rate Manager Support third lowest, at 8.27 out of 10. That puts it 0.05 below the all-company Manager Support score of 8.32.

Industries that rate Manager Support lowest

Construction and Heavy Industry8.068.32

Finance8.268.32

Manufacturing8.278.32

6.00Driver score, 0 to 10 scale, axis truncated at 6.00 so differences are visible10.00

This segmentAll companies 8.32

Each segment gets two bars on one scale: its own score on top and the all-company score underneath, so the comparison is simply which bar is longer and by how much. Only industries with enough answers to report are shown.

See how all 22 drivers rank on score and on their link to eNPS.

BREAKDOWN

Manager Support scores by region and company size

Manager Support by region

North America8.78

Europe8.39

Middle East and Africa8.31

APAC8.27

6.00Driver score, 0 to 10 scale, axis truncated at 6.00 so differences are visible10.00

This segmentAll companies 8.32

Of the regions with enough answers to report, Manager Support ranges from 8.27 in APAC to 8.78 in North America.

How Manager Support changes as companies get bigger

SMB (100 to 499)Mid-Market (500 to 1,999)Enterprise (2,000+)

6.00Driver score, 0 to 10 scale, axis truncated at 6.00 so differences are visible10.00

This segmentAll companies 8.32

Company sizes with enough answers to report, smallest first. The line joins the segments in order and the shaded area under it makes the direction of travel easy to follow. The dashed line is the all-company score for this driver. Company sizes run from the smallest headcount band to the largest.

See employee engagement by region and by company size.

Next in the ranking: Social Connection ranks just above Manager Support, and Culture just below.

QUESTIONS

Common questions about the Manager Support benchmark

What is a good manager support score?

A Manager Support score of 8.65 or higher puts a company in the top quartile of CultureMonkey's 2026 benchmark. The all-company Manager Support score is 8.32 out of 10, 4th of 22 drivers.

Which industries score highest and lowest on manager support?

Of the industries with enough answers to report, Healthcare and Retail score joint highest on Manager Support (8.54), and Construction and Heavy Industry scores lowest at 8.06.

How strongly does manager support affect eNPS?

Manager Support has a 0.28 correlation with eNPS, 17th strongest of the 22 drivers and a weak link on CultureMonkey's scale (below 0.35 is weak). It measures how closely the two move together across benchmark segments and does not prove that one causes the other.

What does the manager support driver measure in an employee engagement survey?

The everyday support, coaching and fairness of one's own manager. That is how CultureMonkey defines Manager Support, one of 22 engagement drivers scored from 0 to 10.

How does the manager support score differ between regions?

Of the regions with enough answers to report, North America scores highest on Manager Support at 8.78 and APAC lowest at 8.27.

How does the manager support score differ by company size?

Of the company sizes with enough answers to report, Manager Support rises with company size, from 8.25 at SMB companies (100 to 499 employees) to 8.43 at enterprise companies (2,000 or more employees).

How does the manager support score compare with other engagement drivers?

Manager Support ranks 4th of 22 engagement drivers on score at 8.32, below Social Connection (8.36) and above Culture (8.31). On its link to eNPS it ranks 17th of 22.

What is the average manager support score?

Across CultureMonkey's 2026 benchmark, the average Manager Support score is 8.32 out of 10, based on ~253,000 survey answers. It is the mean of company-level Manager Support scores.

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Manager Support scores 8.32 out of 10 across all companies, 4th of 22 on score. Compare your own Manager Support score against the CultureMonkey Employee Engagement Benchmarks, built on Q3 2026 data, then turn the gaps into an action plan your managers can run.

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