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10 Tips on How to Be a Better Boss So Your Employees Love You
With more than 28 million small businesses and several thousand companies with 500 or more employees in the United States, there are many boss-employee dynamics at play.
Chances are if you’re a boss, you’ve been an employee at one point or another, and you can remember some of the frustrations or things your former boss did right.
Regardless of your relationship with your previous boss, like one now, you probably want to have a good relationship with your employees. After all, a good relationship helps your business grow and keep everyone productive.
But how do you make sure you’re the best boss you can be? Read on for our top 10 tips on how to be a better boss.
1. Remember what it was like to have a boss
Unless you’re incredibly lucky and have never had to work for anyone else, most of us have had a boss at one point or another in our lives. Try to remember the bosses you’ve had in your life and the ups and downs of working for him or her. This can help you remain more relatable with your employees and not make the same mistakes that person may have.
If you are the head of a group but have a boss, you can do this exercise quite easily and immediately.
2. Value differences in the workplace
No two people work the same way. Although you may appreciate the work style of some of your employees over others, try to take advantage of the way all employees work so that you create a team and not a machine.
3. Don’t get involved in drama in the workplace.
With people working closely together, there will always be conflict and drama in the workplace. As the boss, you need to mitigate it and not contribute to it. Stay out of it and don’t pit one employee against another.
Instead, if there is “drama” in the workplace, defuse it as soon as possible by talking to your employees one on one.
4. Remember that your employees have a life outside the office
While your job may be a place some people stay for many years for their career, or it may be a place employees go to achieve a goal, remember that they have lives outside of your office environment.
Most of your employees have family and financial commitments that they must meet while working for you. Respect this.
While employees should give 100% when they’re in the office, you can recognize when personal situations mean they can’t or need accommodations.
5. Encourage progress and goals
Some workplaces punish employees if they don’t meet certain goals. Others reward them for going the extra mile. Instead of negative consequences, look for positive ones.
Set up an incentive plan with a network that uses them or create one yourself. Offer employees bonuses, gifts, or little things they’d really like to have if they reach certain goals.
This can keep you on target, as well as ensure the business moves forward as smoothly as possible. If people have positive rewards, they are more likely to perform at a higher level.
6. Keep Elements to Scale, as in Don’t Distort Anything Too Much
Distorting things or making mountains out of a molehill can make your workplace hostile. Don’t endlessly praise an employee for doing something small, even if you really like that person outside of work hours. Similarly, don’t use small mistakes as a way to punish an employee for weeks or months.
Keep items to scale and your employees won’t overreact or underreact to things going on in the office.
7. Keep it personal, but not too personal.
Many people become good friends with the people in their office. If you are the boss, there may not be anyone else on your “level”. As such, you may find him lonely and as if he can’t indulge in social outings.
As a boss, it’s perfectly fine to be nice to your employees outside of work hours. However, you must be careful not to let these relationships become office politics. Don’t suddenly start rewarding an underperforming employee because you personally like them, or penalizing a well-performing employee that you personally don’t like.
Instead, take your personal feelings out of the equation when rating office performance and productivity.
8. How to be a better boss: use an app
There are several workplace tracking software apps and programs that can help you be better at your job. Rhumbix, for example, allows those in the construction industry to keep track of their site and keep things consistent and accurate.
Invest in an app or program that will allow you to keep things rolling and keep track of things fairly and objectively.
9. Reward employees for good work
As mentioned above, if you want to incentivize work programs, you need to make sure that employees are rewarded positively. This can also apply to mundane good work.
Don’t just punish employees for bad work, but reward them if you catch them doing something right. Did you hear them handle a situation well, or do you think they did a good job talking to a customer? let them know.
10. Do not transfer your emotions to your employees
Most of us have had a boss get angry or frustrated and the rest of the office be wary of him or her for the rest of the day or week. Don’t be that boss who takes her frustrations out on employees. Instead, try to compartmentalize your frustrations and anger, especially if they have nothing to do with work or the work your employees do.
Putting it all together
There’s no sure way to answer the question of how to be a better boss, but there are always areas where you can improve. Taking stock of yourself and honestly evaluating your work as a boss can help keep things positive in your office.
