Perhaps a case of putting the cart before the horse, a new survey conducted through LinkedIn shows the prospect of becoming a manager is more alluring to job candidates than the relationship they’ll have with the existing one.

Of more than 1,300 LinkedIn members asked by Right Management “What is most important when considering a new employer,” the top response was “career development prospects” (40%), while “good rapport with manager” had the lowest response (8%).

Other factors included work/life balance (21%), innovative company culture (15%), and competitive compensation and benefits (12%).

“We’ve known for some time that employees value career development opportunities over compensation and benefits,” says George Herrmann, Right Management’s executive vice president of Americas. “But what we found noteworthy was that such little value is placed on the relationship and connection with the individual’s manager. Other research we have conducted around employee engagement reinforces that the manager’s role is paramount to foster employee pride, advocacy and commitment. The results of the current study really surprised us.”

Given the results of previous research showing that an effective manager’s role is positively correlated with higher levels of employee engagement, Herrmann attributes the survey results to a nuance of the study participants. “The majority of those responding to the survey are in career transition or looking for new employment. Therefore, focusing on a manager they are not yet working with may be less important to them as they consider new employment. Right now they are focused on tangibles — opportunities to learn and grow.”