As I wrote in a prior post, I have had extremely horrible bosses in the United States, Europe, and Israel. Now that I own a consulting business and have to deal with Excel spreadsheets, payrolls, and financial analyses, I can see the other side of the coin.
There are many articles on how to be a good boss, but now I think it boils down to one thing: When you pay your employees, do you grimace and think about the payroll cost -- or do you smile and think about how you're helping them to make a living and provide for their families (especially in a bad economy)? Much of your behavior towards your employees -- and potential ones -- likely stems from how you answer this question.
I hope that my consultants think that the second answer reflects my attitude, and I also hope that I never lose that mentality.
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I think a lot of a boss’s behavior toward their employee stems from the value they see that employee providing. Their goal isn’t to feel good about providing someone else with a paycheck. Their goal is to hire someone to make their own paycheck bigger. If an employee can prove that they can do this better than the next person off the street, the boss will happy. Mike(Quote)
Thankfully, I work at a non-profit corporation. The goal is not to make more money for anyone — our salaries increase at maybe 3% per year, up to and including the executive director. Our goal is not to make money, our goal is to help the homeless; therefore, the “bosses” are focused on successfully treating the problem of homelessness in the community. Are they all perfect? Of course not; no one is, or will ever be. However, it is wonderful to have an overall organizational goal that is not focused on making money to the exclusion of all other considerations. Here, words like vision, leadership, and commitment really mean something, and are not mere platitudes to be placed in a corporate slogan and immediately ignored. Free from the crushing pressure of turning a profit, we generally are happier and more productive than for-profit employees. Dan(Quote)
Dan — while you might feel better about the objective of your job, you too need to be able to justify your own position to your boss by doing good things. Replace the profit motivation with the goals of your organization — helping the homeless. You will have a much better relationship with your boss if you are doing that effectively and he sees benefits to having you employed over someone else. Also — the same thing is true that the purpose of the organization is not to feel good about providing you with a paycheck, but to help the homeless — ultimately you still need to earn it. Mike(Quote)
Oh absolutely! I obviously didn’t stress that point sufficiently. When I said we were free of the pressures to make money, that doesn’t mean we are free from all pressures. Not in the least. You are exactly right: if I don’t prove my value by helping the organization achieve its goals, I will be replaced by someone who can. The emphasis on productivity remains. The metric by which productivity is measured, however, is different. That was all I was trying to say. Sorry about the confusion.
BTW I got a promotion yesterday, with a nice bump in salary as well, so apparently I am providing some type of value to the company.
Dan(Quote)