The 8 Biggest Mistakes Businesses Make with Staff

Posted on: August 14th, 2017 in Mindset by Pat Mesiti | No Comments

According to the Seek website, about 25% of Australians on the market for a new job are disillusioned with their existing workplace, and too often indentify a bad boss as the reason they want to leave. Do you manage people in a workplace? Do you think you do it well? Alternatively, have you worked in a place with an ineffective boss? Managing people well is difficult. Even executives with Masters in Business Management fail to properly care for their staff.

Having a Parent-child Relationship

The worst mistake I see bosses make is treating their employees like children. They have a parent-child relationship with staff and even then it’s not a good parent-child relationship. The boss behaves like a mean, authoritarian parent, who sets all the rules. They approach their staff with a punitive attitude – employees are not to be trusted and you have to watch them like a hawk or they won’t do their job properly. What a waste of time, energy and resources that is! These mean, distrusting ‘parent’ bosses never praise their employees. I remember I once visited a home to help a father and daughter, who were struggling in their relationship. When I arrived I saw a beautiful painting in the hall, but around the house were dozens of unfinished paintings. The daughter explained that she was the artist and she had completed the beautiful painting in the hall years ago. It won a prize at an art exhibition, but no sooner had she been awarded the prize than her father began criticizing the painting and finding fault. He didn’t’ even congratulate her! The daughter said that from that day she has refused to finish another painting, because it’s impossible to criticise an ‘unfinished’ painting. What a tragic story! The father was so critical and had such little faith in his daughter that he undermined her productiveness. Sadly there are also many over-critical and demanding bosses who undermine their employees’ productiveness.

Being Disrespectful

When it comes to being a good boss I strongly recommend you treat your employees with respect. You need to ask their opinion and always have time for them. Adopt an open door policy. Don’t segregate yourself from your employees like a god. Always be aware that your employees might one day become more successful than you, but if you’ve been a good boss you’d be proud to see them succeed. A good mentor wants their protégé to rise to the highest level!

Not Making Employees their Priority

Too many companies value their shareholders first, their customers second and their employees a distant third. The truth is that employees are as valuable as shareholders and customers. Your employees ARE your business. A good people manager will check in with their employees frequently to see if there are any issues preventing them from doing their job. Frequent contact means you will also hear their view point about how the company is running. You may get some valuable insights. If you take time to listen and care for your employees you will win their loyalty. They will also see the enthusiasm you have for your business, and learn that your business is going somewhere exciting. Employees are more likely to stick with you if they see potential in the company. Seek feedback from your staff. Frequent check-ins and an open door policy is a good place to start, but also ask them direction about changes and ongoing processes.

Not Investing in Employees

As you know success is a ladder. You go up and sometimes you go down, but the best way to grow is by adding value to your company and your products. It also pays to add value to your employees. Provide your workers with the opportunity to upgrade their skills. Create special projects that give your workers new experiences and build knowledge. Invest in training your team. That way they will be able to serve your customers better. It’s worth ensuring your employees are happy, because the customer experience starts with your staff.

Not Showing Appreciation

You will also foster good will if you show appreciation to your staff. You could email messages of thanks or write a note. You could have an employee of the month prize – the reward might just be an extra hour for lunch once a week. Always thank team members when a major project or assignment comes to an end and provide some feedback on their performance. Too often people tell me they feel discouraged at work because they have a leader who does not encourage or even acknowledge their efforts.

Creating a Negative Work Environment

Aim to create a positive atmosphere at your workplace. The atmosphere you create around you will determine the product of your life. And as the boss you must never indulge in gossip. The negativity of gossip lingers, instead adopt an attitude of encouragement.

Not Getting to Know their Employees

Some bosses decide to treat every employee as they would like to be treated. This is another mistake. People are individuals. Some employees like detailed directions and frequent supervision. Other employees like to be left alone to get on with the job. As the boss you need to get to know employees’ personalities, capabilities, strengths and weaknesses. You need to tailor your management approach around these. Some of your staff members will keep performing regardless of whether you praise them or not. They might take great pleasure in just doing their job well. Other employees need constant acknowledgement to keep them motivated at work. I believe it is always good to acknowledge a job well done, but be aware that shy, introverted employees might not appreciate being praised in front of a crowd. These quiet achievers might prefer a low-key thank you.

Not Having Passion

Finally, remember to share your passion for your business with your staff. If you want growth in your life and in your business you must have passion. Passion isn’t just an emotion; it’s an approach – a way of doing things! If you are going to do something in life do it well. If you are going to have a business, run it well. If you bury your passion, you will bury yourself and you will bury your business. Ultimately passion produces productivity in a business. Passion is also contagious and you want your staff to catch it, and apply it to their work!

ABOUT PAT MESITI

Pat Mesiti is a best-selling author, coach and educator in the area of personal development. Having built some of Australia’s largest people-driven organisations, Pat understands the power of harnessing human potential. He has shared the stage with some of the world’s great business minds and has sold over millions of copies of his books and materials.

 

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