Since its origins in the early 1900s, job satisfaction has been a challenge for factory floor workers in manufacturing environments. While schedule, pay, and benefits may improve individual job satisfaction and overall business performance, effective leadership has also been found to be crucial. Open-source content available via Glassdoor was used to validate the importance of leadership skills, and a literature review was used to suggest teaching strategies aimed at emerging leaders. A mixed-methods approach inspired by the qualitative methods of Brené Brown and the quantitative methods of Jim Collins was utilized to validate the drivers of job satisfaction specific to factory floor workers and better understand the intangible drivers possible through improved leadership engagement. The primary finding of this work was the importance of leadership demonstrating empathy for employees, including listening, showing respect, genuinely caring for their team, and creating a culture of meritocracy and balance between the workplace and life outside. Cultivating empathy in emerging leaders is becoming increasingly challenging as this skill has decreased by as much as fifty percent over the last two decades according to some estimates (Parker, 2023). Based on empathy being the key driver of increased workplace satisfaction, online courses from established organizations, such as EdX, could be easily utilized as an onboarding requirement for all new leaders and perhaps all professionals within the manufacturing industry. The goal of this thesis is to share the data and drive improvements in workplace culture for hardworking factory employees who literally work day and night to provide us with the food and beverages that we need to survive and enjoy life.