A Question to Bosses
- Thread starter SirKonstantine
- Start date
Business is business. If you are too nice / friendly with your employees they tend to get really comfortable and then slack off and productivity drops rapidly.
So what do you prefer? Be friends with everyone and have people trying to jump into your seat or play the role of the boss / employeer and continue to keep the troops in line and productive?
This doesn't mean you shouldn't motivate your troops, but I'm sure you can find ways to do this without being everyones friend. In fact I suggest stay away from being friends with employees as much as possible. It just clouds things and makes you be more forgiving.
So what do you prefer? Be friends with everyone and have people trying to jump into your seat or play the role of the boss / employeer and continue to keep the troops in line and productive?
This doesn't mean you shouldn't motivate your troops, but I'm sure you can find ways to do this without being everyones friend. In fact I suggest stay away from being friends with employees as much as possible. It just clouds things and makes you be more forgiving.
There are only two valid reasons for firing someone. Either that person doesn't perform or doesn't behave or both. Whatever it is, it's your job to document it."
-- Wally Bock
Read the one minute manager.
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yuK7OgZ43K8]The One Minute Manager Meets The Monkey part 1. - YouTube[/ame]
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yuK7OgZ43K8]The One Minute Manager Meets The Monkey part 1. - YouTube[/ame]
Being successful chairwoman of the biggest and the most powerful group on WF taught me to never make any friendship with low character such as pewep.
This is why really exhaustive hiring process is necessary. It's easier to say "Sorry, you didn't get the job" than "Sorry, you're fired."
Bringing people in on a trial basis is good. If you can afford to pay your top 3 candidates on a test project you can save time and money down the road. Also helps to ask questions during the interview that will show the specific personality traits that are necessary for each job, good to think about beforehand, personality matters but is often overlooked in favor of "on paper" qualifications. Are you looking for a form filler? Make sure they aren't incredibly bright, they will get bored and start wasting time. Looking for a VA? You need good memory/organization, a type A, near the end of the interview refer back to an earlier part of the conversation and look for someone that can recite back to you what was said.
Mistakes happen, emphasize that you realize that this is reality but emphasize harder that you care more about mistakes getting fixed & that you won't hold it against them.
That is unless a person makes mistake over mistake, then execute them like Ice said
That is unless a person makes mistake over mistake, then execute them like Ice said
Suppress the fuck out of those feelings. You are in a great position to "harness" that dedication and accomplish great things. If they seek your approval, give it to them. If they disappoint you, let them know you're disappointed. For every compliment you give out 4 critiques?
Keep working your ass off and throw out the occasional compliment and your people will move mountains for you. Just remember to bury that guilt deep down. It does nobody any good if you let them know you feel that way. Just keep showing them the way.
BTW dont worry to much about them fulfilling their dreams. Very few people have the balls to actually go out and do it. Do everything you can to show your people the way. Delegate, delegate and then delegate some more.
I have no opinion about who should be fired and for what reasons. It's your business. But I do have some thoughts on how to go about it correctly so as not to shoot yourself in the foot when firing. Here's what I'm thinking:
1. If you hired the employee and had a friendly relationship with them, don't insult this person by ordering an underling to fire them. You're the boss, so man up and do it yourself. Getting booted without a word from you is an insult to the employee.
2. If you made promises to the employee and they were not kept, own up to this and try to make it right. Otherwise, the ex-employee will not forget how they were cheated by you. Examples are bonuses unpaid, sick days not taken, vacation days not taken, disinviting employee from company trips, etc.
3. If you decide to terminate, make things right by paying some kind of severance — even if you don't have to. This is particularly true if the person you're trying to get rid of was privy to sensitive company insider information. It's doubly true if you have no confidentiality agreement.
4. Accept that you may be at least partly complicit in their failure to perform. Perhaps you weren't paying enough attention to how the employee was managed, and they may not have been adequately trained. Was their work well matched to their skill sets?
5. It's imperative that you treat the person you're kicking out the door with the utmost respect. Memories are long, and this person may always have it in for you if the feel they were treated badly. If they're smart and skillful this can be worse for you. They may use what they learned from you to help your competition. Nothing will please the angry ex-employee more than seeing your ass nailed to the wall.
I know many of you won't agree with me, but this is how I see it. Good luck bros.
1. If you hired the employee and had a friendly relationship with them, don't insult this person by ordering an underling to fire them. You're the boss, so man up and do it yourself. Getting booted without a word from you is an insult to the employee.
2. If you made promises to the employee and they were not kept, own up to this and try to make it right. Otherwise, the ex-employee will not forget how they were cheated by you. Examples are bonuses unpaid, sick days not taken, vacation days not taken, disinviting employee from company trips, etc.
3. If you decide to terminate, make things right by paying some kind of severance — even if you don't have to. This is particularly true if the person you're trying to get rid of was privy to sensitive company insider information. It's doubly true if you have no confidentiality agreement.
4. Accept that you may be at least partly complicit in their failure to perform. Perhaps you weren't paying enough attention to how the employee was managed, and they may not have been adequately trained. Was their work well matched to their skill sets?
5. It's imperative that you treat the person you're kicking out the door with the utmost respect. Memories are long, and this person may always have it in for you if the feel they were treated badly. If they're smart and skillful this can be worse for you. They may use what they learned from you to help your competition. Nothing will please the angry ex-employee more than seeing your ass nailed to the wall.
I know many of you won't agree with me, but this is how I see it. Good luck bros.
Leadership is probably one of the most underestimated characteristics among businesspeople.
I hate to quote the cheesiest movie quote in reference to this topic, but it's so dead simple and true that it's worth repeating:
"With great power comes great responsibility."
Unless you've worked underneath a really shitty leader, it might be hard for you to appreciate the significance of good leadership.
A lot of people have different management styles. Management != leadership. There are different ways to effectively lead, and it mostly depends on the personalities of your employees. But a few things I've always seen remain true when leading are these points:
I hate to quote the cheesiest movie quote in reference to this topic, but it's so dead simple and true that it's worth repeating:
"With great power comes great responsibility."
Unless you've worked underneath a really shitty leader, it might be hard for you to appreciate the significance of good leadership.
A lot of people have different management styles. Management != leadership. There are different ways to effectively lead, and it mostly depends on the personalities of your employees. But a few things I've always seen remain true when leading are these points:
- Don't gripe, bitch, or complain to your employees about anything, especially about other employees that are their peers.
- Don't go home before your employees on routine days.
- Performance evaluations every 30, 90, and 180 days. People need to know when they're doing a good job. Equally, they need to know when they're fucking up. This sounds corporate, and it might be, but it's one of those things that will benefit the both of you in the long run.
^^ the above. I fall between the leader and the boss which is a terrible position to be. I learned to separate it from "leadership team" which is made up of the top executives... And "Coordinators" which are the bottom workforce that you have to be a boss and whip them as the image shows. I lead my leadership team and help them whip the bottom employees to keep them moving.
My crew looks up to me and looks to me for direction. I provide it. If someone does good work I tell them. If they aren't doing something right, I tell them.
..in lower positions.
Never have more than 30-40% women. At least that is my experience as an employee. More than that and unless you run a tight ship everything turns into a bitchfest of drama and cliches and gossiping and girls crying in bathrooms. Women will tell you they prefer working with and for men as well.
Also, don't hire douchebag sociopaths even though they may talk a good game.
As for being a boss, it is cool to create a sort of mentor/patron relationship. That is how it should be. It is not the same as being a dictator or a friend. You help someone grow as a person and professional and in return they give you their best and respect. Before I became self employed I approached working in that way and as a result I was always quickly able to learn from the boss and get more responsibility plus raises when I asked for the. Give your best employees a chance to grow (fast) and they'll be loyal to you. Give the less ambitious some fixed, but nessecary responsibility so they feel important.
The bosses I've had like that had a lot of respect and created a good working enviroment. The ones who tried to be friendly and a little too informal created a bad working enviroment with lack of respect between co-workers.
Basically usual class of employees are like sheep.... They need to be led to a direction or they are not of any use...
Only there are some who stand out and this is in context with those who rise up to become bosses .
Only there are some who stand out and this is in context with those who rise up to become bosses .
piece of advice
buy a frivolous car...the peasants will respect the SHIT outta you...those who don't..fire them.
i can't tell you how many times I've heard peasants talk about "their boss' car" or some shit like that
they want someone to look up to and if you drive a frivy (frivolous car lol) they'll be proud to work for someone who drives a frivy car.
don't try to be all Ikea and drive a '87 Camry and be all humble...they won't respect that...
buy a frivolous car...the peasants will respect the SHIT outta you...those who don't..fire them.
i can't tell you how many times I've heard peasants talk about "their boss' car" or some shit like that
they want someone to look up to and if you drive a frivy (frivolous car lol) they'll be proud to work for someone who drives a frivy car.
don't try to be all Ikea and drive a '87 Camry and be all humble...they won't respect that...
I used to have this very problem myself. I had 8 people working for me when I was starting out, at just 16.
The ages of my employees ranged between 23 and 35.
Imagine getting all that attention from people who're far more educated, qualified and elder than you. I made some mistakes and learnt from them. As my team grew bigger, I found that being sweet didn't really work!
Respect is something that needs to be there between an employee and a boss.
Believe me, if you get too friendly, you're hitting yourself in the leg with a hammer!
Employees are going to mess up at times, and if they believe you're just like them, they'll expect you to be nice to them. You can't always be nice to your employees.
If they respect you, they'll think twice before arguing. If you get friendly with them, they'll begin crossing lines and you'll find it difficult to put them back in their place.
You also have to understand that each employee notices how to treat the others. I can't really explain it, but from a lot of experience I've learnt that it's best to stay a little aloof from your employees.
BE friendly, polite and fun to talk to. Crack jokes with them because you don't want them to be uncomfortable. But at the same time, you don't want them getting too comfortable with you either so make sure that the employee-boss relationship remains established.
Be rude once in a while, and don't be shy when you're showing how frustrated/upset you are.
Believe me, if you try to be too much of a pleaser to your employees, at some point, someone will let you down big time along the way and you'll find it difficult to cope with yourself.
Business is Business my friend. Sometimes you have to do things you don't like, things that may defy your logic. You'll either learn this from experience the hard way, or just take it from the rest of us, the easy way!
There's absolutely nothing bad that can come out of your employees respecting you too much, treating you like a god ... blah blah blah
It might seem funny to you at first, but believe me, you'll get used to it soon. Act like the father figure around office because they look to you for guidance. They need to believe you're better than them, only then will they want to follow you with their full heart and soul. (and remain loyal as well)
If you treat them like friends, they won't be 'scared' of you. If they're not scared, there's a very high chance they'll walk all over you.
There are some that don't need this kind of treatment to stay in line, but then, 80% of them do! You can start being partial to certain employees after they've been with you a couple years and you've established that they don't need to be meted such treatment.
MOST IMPORTANTLY: If you're too friendly and get too close to your employees emotionally, there'll be issues among the employees. They'll all start a war for your attention and that becomes a bigger problem!
When you're a rude boss, it's easy to correct people and yell at the ones that need to be taught a little sternly.
However, when you're friendly, you'll find that it's a lot more difficult to get pissed off at an employee.
You can never ever fire someone after getting emotionally connected to them. If you do, you're a DICK. So make sure you put in enough thought before starting to get friendly and nice to any employee. You can't go back then. Be nice, but only to a select few that really deserve it and make sure you make them work for it as well!
Concluding,
Please understand what I mean when I say 'friendly'. Don't take it too literally. Don't talk to them down your nose, but at the same time, don't let them climb over your head. Let there be some respect between you and your employees.
The ages of my employees ranged between 23 and 35.
Imagine getting all that attention from people who're far more educated, qualified and elder than you. I made some mistakes and learnt from them. As my team grew bigger, I found that being sweet didn't really work!
Respect is something that needs to be there between an employee and a boss.
Believe me, if you get too friendly, you're hitting yourself in the leg with a hammer!
Employees are going to mess up at times, and if they believe you're just like them, they'll expect you to be nice to them. You can't always be nice to your employees.
If they respect you, they'll think twice before arguing. If you get friendly with them, they'll begin crossing lines and you'll find it difficult to put them back in their place.
You also have to understand that each employee notices how to treat the others. I can't really explain it, but from a lot of experience I've learnt that it's best to stay a little aloof from your employees.
BE friendly, polite and fun to talk to. Crack jokes with them because you don't want them to be uncomfortable. But at the same time, you don't want them getting too comfortable with you either so make sure that the employee-boss relationship remains established.
Be rude once in a while, and don't be shy when you're showing how frustrated/upset you are.
Believe me, if you try to be too much of a pleaser to your employees, at some point, someone will let you down big time along the way and you'll find it difficult to cope with yourself.
Business is Business my friend. Sometimes you have to do things you don't like, things that may defy your logic. You'll either learn this from experience the hard way, or just take it from the rest of us, the easy way!
There's absolutely nothing bad that can come out of your employees respecting you too much, treating you like a god ... blah blah blah
It might seem funny to you at first, but believe me, you'll get used to it soon. Act like the father figure around office because they look to you for guidance. They need to believe you're better than them, only then will they want to follow you with their full heart and soul. (and remain loyal as well)
If you treat them like friends, they won't be 'scared' of you. If they're not scared, there's a very high chance they'll walk all over you.
There are some that don't need this kind of treatment to stay in line, but then, 80% of them do! You can start being partial to certain employees after they've been with you a couple years and you've established that they don't need to be meted such treatment.
MOST IMPORTANTLY: If you're too friendly and get too close to your employees emotionally, there'll be issues among the employees. They'll all start a war for your attention and that becomes a bigger problem!
When you're a rude boss, it's easy to correct people and yell at the ones that need to be taught a little sternly.
However, when you're friendly, you'll find that it's a lot more difficult to get pissed off at an employee.
You can never ever fire someone after getting emotionally connected to them. If you do, you're a DICK. So make sure you put in enough thought before starting to get friendly and nice to any employee. You can't go back then. Be nice, but only to a select few that really deserve it and make sure you make them work for it as well!
Concluding,
Please understand what I mean when I say 'friendly'. Don't take it too literally. Don't talk to them down your nose, but at the same time, don't let them climb over your head. Let there be some respect between you and your employees.