Managers have the ability to make or break a team. When managers are placed in an organization, there is almost no time to gain respect, trust, or Employee loyalty towards leadership or the direction of the company. Time will be taken away to rebuild and repair the working relationships, which can take years, in order to rebuild the foundation of the environment. A 2015 survey conducted by B2B marketplace Approved Index, surveyed 1,374 Employees, of whom 42% stated they left a job because of a bad boss. One-third of the 42% also cited that they felt their manager was bad in their position.
In another position I held I worked closely with an inter-disciplinary team. There I noticed a few things a "bad manager” conducted that led to an attrition of 10 out of 12 employees within a year. Some of these employees were highly specialized which to this day dealt a crippling blow to the company. Here are some things for managers to avoid.
Placing Your Needs Above the Employees
Your job is not more important than theirs. In fact, all positions are usually symbiotic with one another. Employees tend to have a life outside of work; whether it is personal, interpersonal, or professional. It shouldn’t be a surprise that employees have other obligations they prefer to tend to than work commitments.
When an employee is scheduled to leave work at 4:30 p.m. it should be no surprise that they would be upset if you hand them a 50 page report to audit at 4:25 p.m. The last thing an employee wants to hear is that theirs, their families, or their endeavors, are not a priority to a company.
Failed Professional Commitments
Promises are promises.
Before a manager set foot through the doors employees had needs that were placed on hold. It is up to the new manager to push through, amend, or deny these requests. Not fulfilling some of them can be detrimental to the organization if it was the straw the broke the employees back. Sometimes it is better to see the future vision of the organization with that employee and raise expectations rather than lose time looking for a replacement.
For instance, at the same organization that lost their 10 employees there was a situation where an employee was promised a promotion after 1 year of employment. During the transition of new management, the employee requested the promised promotion. It was denied due by the new manager, citing that it would not get past senior management due to their own raise going through.
Over-productivity
In your own definition, what is a workload? To me, it is the amount of production that a person is capable of performing. When we exceed this maximum amount of work an employee can complete we are faced with “burnout” with that person. Typically a manager will place the heavier workloads on talented employees that are capable of performing the tasks.
When is too much to handle? Typically, that is determined by the employee.
Titles and promotions are moderate ways to reward a talented employee. If you must continuously improve the employee workload, however, raises or non-monetary compensations should be given as well. If a manager does not recognize the fault in weighing down the employee with negative job impacts they will be looking for a new job that meets their expectations of what their skills are worth.
Careers and Education Paths
There are some positions that are required to have formal education requirements. Nurses, Doctors, licensed counselors, and various other positions, are required to complete Continuing Education Unit (CEU).
However, many other fields are required to be up-to-date on field strategies, techniques, procedures, but are not privy to the forced requirements.
Setting up employee career paths can assist in losing an employee through miscommunication. It also enhances the employee-management relationship by meeting employee’s needs and possibly utilizing there outside their position description skills. In 2012, Forbes listed a study where graduate students are looking for career advancement opportunities over most anything else.
Ineffective Decision Making
Another position I worked had required a small team to service three California counties. Every Friday our administrative meetings be focused on what events needed staff members, what community meetings needed attendance, what information to take, etc.
The manager hardly ever made a decision and the hour was left between staff members proceeding with democratic votes for the scheduling of events. Sometimes it boils down to having a command authority with a decision. Most teams just want a decision to be made.
What the bottom line should reflect is the need for being a TEAM. If a manager focuses their eyes on their employee staff, the staff in turn, will focus on the vision given by management.
