Things you (yes you Candice!) do that drives me nuts

Try to prove you’re the boss. “Do this because I said so” will neither cut the ice nor win you brownie points with your employees.

Shirk responsibility or transfer it to your employees just because they are not in a position to refuse you.

Forget that to motivate your people, you must first gain their respect and support.

Take credit for your employees’ work. Give credit where it’s due, otherwise, you end up taking away their motivation to work and losing the respect they have for you.

Fail to recognize/appreciate/reward work well done and tasks completed ahead of schedule.

Think you have to keep doing something all the time. You have to actually be productive, not just run around trying to look busy, while actually doing nothing useful. (SOME DAYS I DON’T SEE MORE THAN 10 PEOPLE)

Neglect long-term plans for growth in the course of dealing with short-term day-to-day tasks and problems. A company thrives on growth, not stagnancy. (SO TELL ME HOW DO I MAKE REFERRALS HAPPEN? WHAT AM I NOT DOING THAT YOU DO? HOW DO I DO IT? SHOW ME! I LIKE HAVING A JOB AND DOING IT WELL!)

Be critical without being constructive. If you chide your employees regarding a particular task, tell them not only what’s wrong, but also what has to be done to do things the right way.

Fire your employees and hide from them the reason for their dismissal. (IF YOU WANT TO FIRE ME FOR MOE I”LL TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR THAT BUT I REFUSE TO ACCEPT THE REFERRAL NO EFFORT EXCUSE)

Undertake any endeavor without sufficient planning.

Neglect to provide continuous feedback about their work. (WHERE IS MY CONTINUOUS FEEDBACK?!? HOW DO I MAKE THAT SUCESSFUL REFERRAL? IF YOU KNOW WHAT I AM MISSING TELL ME!!! TELL ME SO I CAN IMPROVE!!! DON’T TELL ME WHAT I ALREADY KNOW. I KNOW I HAVENT MADE ANY NON-FAMILY NON-WALK-IN I WANT AN ACCOUNT REFERRALS)Waiting for an annual/biannual performance appraisal may not allow them to hone their skills and work on their negative aspects.

Neglect to follow up on delegated tasks. You are after all, responsible for seeing that they get done.

Deny your employees the basic (and not-so-basic) tools and gadgets needed to do their work efficiently. IT department heads are notorious for asking their employees to “get by” with the software they have presently, deeming an upgrade unnecessary. (How can I say with confidence to my customers, yes MINE because I deal with them everyday, when I don’t believe it or know it to be a fact?! And NO I will not lie to just give the branch referral credits I HAVE MORAL STANDARDS)

Base appraisal decisions on very recent performances. Take their overall service to the organization into account.

Suck up to your employees when you’re short-staffed or be arrogant with them when you don’t really care if they quit or not.

Snoop around your employees’ desks and personal paraphernalia.





WHAT MANAGERS DO THAT I ONLY CAN WISH YOU WOULD DO:

Take your employees into confidence in all issues that relate to them or the work they do. You’ll find that people work better when they have a sense of understanding and purpose to the job at hand.

Give your employees room to grow, both personally and professionally.

Practice what you preach. Don’t say one thing and do the exact opposite. If you expect your employees to be punctual, you have to make an effort to watch the clock too.

Invest time and effort in your people. You cannot run the show on your own. Nurture them, motivate them, and coax their best work out of them.

Be ethical in all your dealings.

Set standards for your employees to follow. You are their leader; what you do sets the precedent for them to follow.

Focus more on the strengths of your employees, not their weaknesses. The more you get them to improve their strengths, the more their weaknesses fade into the background.

Turn a blind eye at times to goings-on that are inconsequential to the work at hand. Ignorance is bliss sometimes.






Manager or no manager you respect people and never put them below you. Common decency is expected.

It’s rare that problems between managers and employees are caused by only one party. Think about it: What’s the likelihood that the employee was responsible for 100 percent of the performance issue? Almost always, ALWAYS the manager bears some responsibility. It may not always be 50/50, but leaders need to hold up the mirror and see how they have contributed to the situation. Before you place all the blame on the employee, consider the following:

•Have I provided both direction and support to this employee?
•Have I provided the tools and resources to allow this employee to be successful?
•Have I provided specific outcomes and results I’m looking for?
•Have I created an environment that promotes the behaviors I’m looking for?
•Have I tried positive consequences first, before negative or punitive actions?