Bastards

You’re a tool “The resentment that criticism engenders can demoralize employees, family members and friends, and still not correct the situation that has been condemned.” Dale Carnegie Let me start by pointing something out that many mangers take for granted; your employees are the people who will make or break you. It is their effort that will make you look good or bad. Of course you, the arrogant supervisor who thinks the sun was created to rise and set in your ass, will take the credit and make some claim that your ability to motivate (we’ll talk about that later) is the reason your department did so well, but you need to remember this key point; you did not do it alone. Do you know why so there is such a high turnover rate in jobs that have the potential to pay well? It’s because the employees would rather take less and work for someone who values their effort than work for someone who is full of conceit, assumes the position they hold automatically warrants respect, and fails to exercise good judgment. Reverence is something that is earned; you can’t make it a stipulation. If you believe you can then you are a schmuck. I understand that it is difficult to measure the significance of the contribution of the HR element but you should also remember how you felt coming up the ladder yourself. How to substantiate what your employees do is no easy task but, all the same, educating others in regard to their effort will allow higher-ups within the organization to learn and understand how they contribute to the company’s overall success. All of this should go without saying but, too often there is so much effort placed on the numbers that managers lose their nerve and are afraid to defend the work ethic that their employees have. I often wonder if you really have any idea about the esteem that you could muster from the employees if you would put aside your fear or insecurity and stick up for them once in a while? One of your primary responsibilities, as a manager, is to make sure that others view your workers as an indispensable part of the organization while you take upon yourself the role of being a sounding board to their needs. Doing so may help them be more productive and help you since their performance affects the way you are perceived as a manager. Why is it that another person often has to evaluate your staff and then point out the efforts they are making? When you accept the position of manager you automatically become an extension of the HR division. It is in your best interest to learn as much as you can about this complicated and multifaceted business task.