By Dave Crenshaw
Have you ever seen a business caught in the crossfire between management and employees?
It’s not pretty. It’s distracting, and most of all, it’s damaging to customers. Employees are more powerful than you may think. First, there’s more of them than the boss. Second, their interaction dictates a company’s culture.
I once was asked a great question that I think many people have: Why does it seem that so often employee and manager relationships deteriorate? How can I keep that from happening?
Perhaps you have seen this: you work in a position where you have a great relationship with either someone you manage or your manager, but over time – because you’re busy and there’s stress – it starts to fall apart and a little hostility starts to creep into the relationship. And, when one relationship goes sour, it’s easy for more to follow.
I have seen many companies with successful employee/manager relationships, and the key to their success is that they focus on culture management instead of employee management.
I want to share with you three insights that I have gained from these companies.
#1. A strong company culture.
Create a strong company culture by hiring people whose beliefs and values are in tune with your company. Companies that have great employee/manager relationships usually have a very strong company culture. This means there is an established set of values and an established set of norms that people use to operate and interact with each other. And, when new people are hired into this company, they’re hired based on their compatibility with the culture. This goes a long way in avoiding a lot of the friction that can often happen in the workplace.
#2. Strong communication.
Managers that maintain great relationships with their employees have consistent meetings. I can’t stress enough the importance of having one-to-one “huddles” with employees. If you’re too busy as a manager to have these meetings, you’re just plain too busy. These one-to-one huddles create an oasis that offers the opportunity for a manager to ask employees questions and for them to ask you questions – away from the hustle and bustle of the business. Regular one-to-one meetings are key to reducing workplace chaos.
#3. Avoid the “Peter Principle”.
The Peter Principle is a term coined by Dr. Laurence J. Peter in his 1969 book, The Peter Principle (more info on the Peter Principle here) in which the selection of a candidate for a position is based on the candidate’s performance in their current role, rather than on abilities relevant to the intended role. As a result, employees only stop being promoted once they can no longer perform effectively, and “managers rise to the level of their incompetence.”
So often we see that in business. Someone is successful in one entry-level position, so they’re promoted. And they’re successful in that position, so they’re promoted. And then they fail, because they’re promoted to a position that really isn’t a fit for their personality or their skill set. How can we avoid that?
- If you’re the person making the promotion, make sure that you’re promoting people and hiring people based upon personality traits and learned skills. Ensure that they have the personal characteristics that are necessary to succeed in that position, not just past performance in an unrelated position.
- If you’re the person receiving the promotion, that should be a sign for you that it’s time to go back to school. I’m not necessarily saying that you need to go get a higher degree.
But, it’s your responsibility to update your skills—and even your point of view—to ensure success in your new role. Become a life-long learner; don’t just rest on what you’ve done in the past.
AUTHOR BIO:
Dave Crenshaw works 30 hours per week or less, plays video games, and has plenty of time to spend with his wife and three children. He is also the master of helping business owners triumph over chaos. He has appeared in Time magazine, Fast Company, USA Today, and the BBC News. His first book, The Myth of Multitasking: How ‘Doing It All’ Gets Nothing Done, has been published in six languages and is a time management bestseller. As an author, speaker, and business coach, Dave has transformed thousands of businesses worldwide. To get free access to Dave’s online Time Management Fundamentals course on Lynda.com, please visit: http://davecrenshaw.com/freetime. You can connect with Dave on Google+.
