Everyone who leads people wants, even if only deep inside, to be a great boss. The problem is, what you feel are the qualities of a great boss may be very different from what your employees want, and need. 

That's why Seth Godin, author of the just-released new book The Song of Significance: A New Manifesto for Teams, asked 10,000 people in 90 countries to describe the conditions at the best job they ever had. 

Here are the top four:

• I surprised myself with what I could accomplish
• I could work independently
• The team built something important
• People treated me with respect

"Surprised myself with what I could accomplish" and "work independently" were the runaway leaders at 60 and 50 percent of respondents, respectively. Makes sense; we all love to feel good about ourselves, and we all appreciate – even if we work for someone else – feeling a sense of responsibility and authority. (The two often don't go hand in hand.)

More surprising is the fact "I got paid a lot" was mentioned by less than 20 percent of respondents. Clearly money is important, but while higher pay is great, at a baseline level what matters is that we feel fairly compensated for the work we do. 

Yet clearly purpose, meaning, and respect matter more.

As Godin writes: 

What would today be like if you could honestly describe your job that way? And what if all your coworkers felt the same way? Imagine being an investor, a customer, a participant in that sort of organization.

What if we created the best job someone ever had? What if we built an organization people would genuinely miss if it were gone?

You've probably seen the Gallup research that shows people leave bosses, not companies. Once pay and benefits are fair – not industry-leading, just appropriate and reasonable – how you treat people makes a huge difference.

Want to improve your odds of keeping your best employees and hiring potential superstars? Get your pay and bonus systems in order, and then think longer term.

One example: a study of more than 400,000 people published in Harvard Business Review found that when employees believe promotions are managed effectively, employee turnover rates are half that of other companies in the same industry. But wait, there's more; Productivity, innovation, and growth metrics also outperform the competition. (For public companies, stock returns are almost three times the market average.)

Promoting the right people matters, because it shows you value integrity and equity. Promoting the right people shows you reward performance and potential.

Bottom line? Money matters... until it doesn't.

Because you can't buy great employees.

But you can definitely earn them, by giving your employees the responsibility, authority, and respect that will allow them to surprise themselves with what they can accomplish. 

And gain the satisfaction we all feel when we get to become even better versions of ourselves.   

Inc