In my years as a manager, I have discovered that in order to do the job right, you must be versatile.
Managers don’t just lead the employees. They are ambassadors to the community and their clients. They are accountants of company assets. They are guardians of their employer’s business interests. They do the hiring and the firing. They set the level of standards by which their team operates. They are problem solvers and crisis managers.
And this is why you can get some pretty crummy managers at times. It’s not easy to do all these things. This position requires a varied skillset and a willingness to tackle things you’re not used to doing.
The one skillset among these without which you absolutely cannot make do is how to properly handle and engage and motivate your employees.
You might be able to wing the rest. But if you’re poor at these key soft skills, you’re not going to go far.
Here are eight rules I follow when dealing with my employees:
Set Boundaries and Expectations—and Stick to Them
You can be the friendly manager who everyone likes if you want. You can be strict with cleanliness but a little loose with on times. You can be aloof and always extremely professional. How you choose to manage is up to you.
But if you want to be taken seriously by your employees, you must be consistent in how you act. You can’t get on one person about being late while letting another slide. You can’t allow some to push the envelope with their behavior and then go by the book with others. You shouldn’t have sharp standards one day, and lax the next.
One of the key things employees are seeking from their boss is security and comfort. If they can’t tell how you will respond from one day to the next, they will not be able to focus as well on the job at hand, always wondering which “you” is at work that day. They have enough to worry about meeting your and the company’s standards. If they can’t trust you to be the same day after day, they will always be uneasy, unhappy and looking to get out as soon as they can.
Be Honest and Authentic
Be straight with your employees, as much as you are allowed to be. If they are doing a good job, tell them. Trust me, they want to hear you say it. If they have some “areas for improvement,” tell it to them with sensitivity and tact, but also be direct.
There will always be times when you can’t tell the whole truth. That is the nature of the business. Managers are always privy to more information about their employees’ futures and the direction of the company, as they need to be to do their job.
But employees will always appreciate it when you are clear with them on what you expect of them, and whether or not they are meeting those expectations. It lets them know where they stand. They don’t have to guess.
This includes not being afraid to be negative. You shouldn’t be unnecessarily so, but if all you say is positive opinions or give inauthentic evaluations, your employees will see through the bull a mile away.
You should also make sure you are always being your true self. Don’t put up a façade and act like everything is okay if it is not. Don’t be fake. No one respects someone who acts this way. Nor will they do what you need them to do when push comes to shove.
Care For The Well-Being Of Your Employees
Don’t be a user, i.e. someone who only values what others can do for you. Be a human being, first and foremost. Care about your employees.
If there is one thing I have learned, it is that if you care for your employees, not only will they care for you and work hard for you, they will also care for your guests. And if your guests are happy, your business is likely to be making money.
Be as interested in your employees’ futures as you are your own. Work with them to improve. Give them honest assessments of where they are at their position and in the company, and give them what aid you can to help them achieve their goals, both personal (within reason) and professional.
One trick I have learned is that when an employee asks you some conversational question (something more specific than “how are you doing”), it isn’t likely to be because they want to know so much about you, but that they want to be asked about themselves. If someone has something to say, I will be happy to give them the opportunity to share. Such behaviors lead to rapport and a supportive team environment.
Be The Rock In The Storm
I will admit this one is hard for me. I don’t always maintain as much calm as I would like in stressful situations.
That said, although it may be an area I can improve upon, I can still see very much the value in “being the rock.”
When things are going crazy, and everyone is starting to feel overwhelmed, they are going to be watching to see how you behave. That sets the standard for how they then act.
I once worked with a manager who was always a little frazzled in extremely busy rushes. This person would go into the kitchen with the right intentions and trying to help but would end up yelling at people and doing more commanding than helping. This always put the kitchen workers on edge, and the performance of the back of the house staff as a whole would actually suffer.
If instead you give your employees a calm demeanor and temperament, they will in turn be calm. They will feel less pressure, allowing them to perform their jobs better in the heat of the moment. What’s more, if you are not raising your voice, then you do not risk confrontations that can lead to resentment and open rebellion, or risk hurting team morale.
Show Respect No Matter Who It Is
Treat every person who works for you with respect. You might say that the actions of some at work don’t call for them to receive any respect from you, and I understand that thinking.
But respect is the bare minimum you should be showing to all of your employees for two reasons. One, they are human, and that alone is reason enough to be respectful. This isn’t just a good work rule but a good life behavior to adopt. Two, if you give respect, you will almost certainly receive it back. And managers who are respected get their employees’ best efforts and intentions.
Don’t just do this with your best or most trusted employees. Do it with everyone, even your lower performers or newest team members.
Make it a point to be courteous and professional. This is a small price to pay for a wealth of long term gains. Shake hands. Wish them well. Smile. Look at them in the eyes when you speak to them. Listen to what they have to say, without trying to plan out what you’re going to say before they are done.
If they have something exceptionally personal going on that is interfering with their job performance, be sympathetic toward their plight. There is always a point at which this must be addressed at work, of course. One can’t show up drunk and be excused for it because they got into a nasty fight with their spouse, for instance. But a little empathy goes a long way.
Don’t Command, Request
How do you respond when someone gives you an order, no ifs, ands, or buts about it? I would guess that you resent it and take offense. I know that I have in the past in the same situation. It is not a pleasant feeling for someone to exert their authority over you.
That authority is present, of course. Your job is to have and use that authority to achieve the business aims of your higher ups.
But do you need to make it obvious?
If instead of issuing a command, try instead to make it a request. Don’t say “clean up that mess at once,” instead say “could you please clean up the floor here?”
Making a request like this hides the authority behind it. It doesn’t bring the personal challenge into the equation. It sets the illusion that it is a request where your employee has a choice to not do it. Sure, it’s just a bit of social play, really, but it goes a long way to giving your employee a feeling of control over their own actions.
Explain Your Why
Don’t just tell people what to do. Explain to them why it has to be done.
If you give your team a reason they can accept, they will be a lot more willing to do what you want and without questioning further.
By explaining your reason, you show respect to them by elevating them to a partnership, at least in appearance.
If you just issue an order for them to do something and it is not clear why it must be done, they will feel like you don’t think they’re worthy enough to know why. Or think you believe they are not intelligent enough to understand.
By telling them the reason, it allows them to see into the whole tapestry of the work enterprise and know where their own role is in the business. Plus, if the reason is logical and sensible (and it always should be), they can see the purpose to it, and will believe that they are contributing in some important and meaningful way.
Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff
Like being a rock, this one is also a personal hardship for me, as I tend to be more detail-oriented than most. The reality is, though, that there is no easier way to kill the morale of a team than to be picky and disapproving.
No one should be expected to be perfect, including yourself. You need to set your standards and then give your employees the leeway to hit the mark as close as they can. Sometimes that might not be too close, especially if they are inexperienced or the task before them is especially challenging.
If you pick at every little thing they do, they will feel that you do not trust that they can do the job. This will send their confidence plummeting. Not to mention, your constant attention to their mistakes and having them correct them all the time makes working for you quite a chore.
In almost everything, we can find some way in which it can be improved, of course. But how often is the tiny improvement you seek worth the social capital you must expend with your employee to get it done?
Know when “good enough” is better than attempting to achieve perfection. Further, on those rare occasions when near perfection is truly needed, they will be more willing and able to go that extra mile to do it right.
This also goes for behavior. There are always lines you cannot cross, and which you must ensure your employees do not cross as well. But if you’re too controlling of everything around you, the environment in your work will be constrictive and unhappy.
In other words, within reason, let the employees show off their personality and be themselves, so long as they aren’t hurting other employees or your guests or business interests.