“The problem with people who have no vices is that generally you can be pretty sure they’re going to have some pretty annoying virtues.”
–Elizabeth Taylor
Your swagger, peremptory mannerisms might surely sway your shareholders or business allies, making them give in to your demands.
However, if you’re thrusting it upon your employees too often, it might soon sound the death knell of your relationship with them.
Sure, you can talk yourself into thinking it’s going well under your leadership, a case of mind over matter; but it only makes you a saboteur in the long run.Here are a few hints that’ll confirm that your relationship with your workers needs cementing:
1) You’re getting away with what they can’t!
If you are any bit successful, your employees would look up to you. Your whiling away time, vacationing on impulse, late comings, early exits; but not an ounce of leniency with your employees can be upsetting to them. It’ll just unveil the blatant power play at work, getting your employees piqued faster than you know.
The moment they feel they’re being taken for granted, will mark the beginning of the end. Your top talent will begin disappearing, and the sycophantic, self serving lot will start taking over. Generally, people have a feel for who’s genuine, a sense that goes beyond logic.
Being fair in all measures can only promote a feeling of oneness. Besides studies have shown that fair managers can augment the bottom line.
2) You are the smarty pants, know–it–all kinds!
This isn’t possible, not humanly. Even in the corporate warfare , the ground realities are best known to the foot soldiers. That’s the reason, people are divided into teams, handed over different projects so they can specialize in solving problems for a specific set of clients. That’s just the way it works.
A one man army can work for extremely small firms, but not for long. It is your prerogative instead to utilize the potential of your best talent optimally. Ask them what they know, rather than showing off what you do.
Sure, there can be instances where you might know more. In such cases guide them properly, but leave it open ended and up to them to take it ahead. A know-it-all behavior smacks of both insecurity and snobbery. And both can be cataclysmic for your own growth as a manager or employer, let alone your organization’s.
3) Having ridiculously high expectations from your poor performers? You should be helping instead!
Don’t crucify your poor performers. They have a right to live and learn too. If you’re burdening them with more tasks just because their work isn’t up to the mark, to justify their remuneration, remember two wrongs don’t make a right. These are the best opportunities to hone your leadership skills, set a fine example, instill confidence in others and help someone genuinely (if a bit of philanthropy is up your alley). Everybody works for themselves. If you succeed in improving someone’s performance, it would be good for them, but it’ll be in your best interest.
Like, if you’re managing a food chain or a retail outlet, try keeping your poor performers by your side or have them positioned at less demanding spots. You could use an employee scheduling software to schedule their duties beforehand, so you could plan the needful accordingly.
4) You’re getting envious and it shows!
Managers aren’t immune to envy. They too can feel threatened by good performers.
Some clear signs of hindering their growth can be:
- making it hard for the employees
- to access a specific piece of information (so your own incompetencies aren’t exposed)
- throwing your weight around
- not asking employees to show up in organizational events
- offering them little importance
- ignoring their advice, etc…
A jealous boss would do all things a tad extra that terrible bosses are known for, unless the intimidating employee falls in line to be a follower.
Remember, no amount of dominance can help you. In fact, the more stronger you oppose someone in particular, more would be the collective sentiment against you. This can slay your employees’ morales, needless to mention the widening gap between them and your organization’s goals.
5) Are you being a problem creator instead of a problem-solver?
Increasing red-tapism, getting them involved in needless reporting, killing their time is the worst kind of harm. Don’t just count the problems, talk in terms of solutions. Not helping is only tantamount to creating obstacles. Similarly, don’t burden your best performers any further if they’re already tied up with existing workload, rise to the occasion yourself. It’s not just for your employees to see that goals are being met. All the liability, be it the accolades, the disrepute or the embarrassing blunders must be shared. If you can help them in getting something straightened out, do it proactively.
Learn from the worst examples around you. See that of all the people, you don’t get in the way. Walmart has been especially infamous for creating mayhem in employees lives. Its employees have even shared some stories that’ll give a peak into their plight.
Final thoughts:
According to a survey by Gallup in 2010, job stress came out as the biggest pet peeve of workers in America, but the truth is most of this stress is created. This can result in a double whammy of mounting workload and behavioral clashes.
Don’t expect your employees to be able to leap buildings and have super powers.
A good leader must walk the talk and set the right precedents. Whatever you do, don’t let these problems linger on for long. They’ll only turn into festering wounds.
Author: Bimal Parmar is VP of Marketing for Celayix – a leading provider of Employee scheduling software. With over 20 years industry experience, he’s responsible for making sure the world learns about the benefits of Celayix’s solutions.
