By Joy Ehonwa
credits: ethpress.gov.et1. You don’t respect them
What? I’m the boss, they should respect me! No sir, respect is reciprocal. You can’t treat employees shabbily, saying “there are many graduates out there who need jobs, so if you don’t want to work, resign!” and expect them to be enamoured with you. Name-calling is also a big no-no. The fact is, you’re not doing them a favour; they are rendering a service you need, for which they get paid. You should respect them as human beings. If you fail to do this, no matter how much they defer to your professional authority, morale will be low and their performance will be subpar.
2. You don’t know what you are doing
A good boss is a leader and a mentor of sorts. A boss who knows his onions is the one his employees/subordinates will look up to and respect. If you climbed up the ladder by means other than hard work and genuine commitment, chances are you didn’t learn many aspects of the job a person in your position should have mastered. When your staffers continually have to clean up after you and suffer the consequences of your incompetence, it is only natural that they will grow to dislike you.
3. You don’t really care about them
This is not about getting chummy or exhibiting unprofessional behaviour. Bosses who show genuine concern for the health and wellbeing of their staff find themselves with people who are willing to go the extra mile for them, and gladly overlook their shortcomings. If you neither care that Jack is feeling poorly, nor consider how far Jill’s home is from the office when you’re asking her to work late, you really can’t be shocked that you’re hated.
4. You always want to pay the least you can get away with
You are blessed to have creative, hardworking staff, and instead of rewarding them with rich remuneration, you pay them just enough to keep them working. You delay raises, and then when you finally get round to it, you scoop up a handful of money and splash it atop their current pay packet like a market woman selling cups of rice. You will be the loser in the end. Do you want to find yourself with an excellent employee who is constantly searching for a better job? Soon, someone else will recognise their worth and they will be gone in a flash. Until then, be aware that their feelings towards you are anything but warm.
5. Your door is always closed
One of the perks of working under a seasoned professional is the opportunity to learn and grow. You may be the best in the industry, but if your doors aren’t open, literally and figuratively, your employees will benefit little from your expertise. Being accessible goes a long way. Bosses who are on hand to access employees’ performance, give constructive feedback and offer a piece of advice or two are not just respected; they are loved by employees who will bend over backwards to please them. Bosses who are stingy with their time, energy and attention should expect indifference at best, and thinly veiled animosity at worst.
So there you have it! Make 2013 a different year for you and your staff.
