For example, employees surveyed were asked to agree or disagree with statements such as, the mission or purpose of my company makes me feel my job is important, this last year, I have had opportunities at work to learn and grow and at work, I have the opportunity to do what I do best every day.

While even Gallup conceded in its own narrative that the study's findings are subject to debate, there were a few possible reasons why female managers and their employees were more engaged than male managers and their employees.

For instance, male managers were more likely to hold production jobs that may be less engaging. However, Gallup also speculated that because of workplace gender bias, women managers might be more adept at leveraging their natural talents to engage their teams because they need to exceed expectations to advance in their organizations.

Regardless of gender, however, great managers were hard to come by. Only an estimated 10% of employees, according to Gallup, had these five talents to succeed in management: they motivated their employees, asserted themselves to overcome obstacles, created a culture of accountability, built trusting relationships and made informed, unbiased decisions for the good of the team and the organization.

The good news is that 20% of employees had some of these talents and could achieve success with appropriate training and coaching.

Gallup also admitted that while its study's findings may have been surprising to some, they suggested organizations should place more emphasis on hiring and promoting more females. That could be accomplished by using talent as the basis for selection decisions.

Here were the four reasons why women are better managers than men:

Higher Levels of Engagement

According to Gallup, 41% of female managers were engaged at work compared with 35% of male managers. What's more, the research firm also found that at every working-age generation and regardless of whether they have children at home, women managers were more engaged.

Because women managers had higher engagement scores than male managers, it was more likely that their workplace teams were more engaged and were more likely to meet or exceed workplace expectations at their organizations.

According to Gallup's data, individuals who work for a female managers were six percentage points more engaged on average that those who worked for a male manager, 33% to 27%, respectively.

Gallup also found female employees who work with female managers were most engaged at 35%, while male employees who worked for male managers were the least engaged at 25%.

Encourage Employee Development

According to the Gallup study, employees who had a woman manager were 1.26 times more likely than employees who worked for a male manager to strongly agree with this Q¹² statement: There is someone at work who encourages my development.

This statement was one of 12 that Gallup used to measure employee engagement. The other statements gauged engagement indicators such as work expectations, recognition, development, commitment, quality work, feedback and friendship.

Though female managers were more likely than their male counterparts to cultivate potential in employees, it did not mean that women managers were more likely to promote their associates, according to Gallup.

However, it could mean that women were more inclined than men to find stimulating work assignments that could have facilitated employee career development.

Provide Regular Feedback

Female managers were more inclined than their male counterparts to check their employees' progress more frequently.

The Gallup study found those who worked for a female boss were 1.29 times more likely than those who worked for a male boss to strongly agree with the Q¹² statement: In the last six months, someone at work has talked to me about my progress.

Recognize Good Work

Employees who worked for a female manager were 1.17 times more likely than those with a male manager to strongly agree with this statement: I have received recognition or praise for doing good work.

This indicated, of course, that the “attaboy” or attagirl” pats on the backs made employees feel valued for daily contributions in the workplace.

It also suggested that female managers may be better than male managers at helping their employees harness the power of positive reinforcement, which in turn may fuel employee engagement and improve workplace morale overall, according to Gallup.

It's interesting to note, however, that the Gallup study found that male managers outscored their female counterparts in this Q¹² statement, At work, my opinions seem to count.

Next Steps?

To read more details, here is a direct link to Gallup's study. Registration is required.

In addition, throughout May and June Gallup is holding free executive sessions in several cities around the nation to help leaders learn why great managers are so rare, what employees want from their managers, what impact disengaged managers have on employee engagement and what the best organizations do differently to find, retain and grow great managers.

Here is a link to a listing of where Gallup will be hosting sessions.