workplace culture
YOUR BEST BOSS DIDN’T ACHIEVE THIS HONOUR BECAUSE
OF THE POLICIES SHE IMPLEMENTED, BUT BECAUSE OF
THE WAY SHE INTERACTED WITH YOU, PROVIDED YOU
WITH FEEDBACK AND LISTENED TO YOUR CONCERNS AND
IDEAS. IT WAS BECAUSE OF HOW SHE MADE YOU FEEL.
Ross & McBrideLLP
www.rossmcbride.com
policies she implemented, but because of
the way she interacted with you, provid-ed
you with feedback and listened to your
concerns and ideas. It was because of how
she made you feel.
So, how can you and the rest of your lead-ership
team achieve the status of best boss?
While every workplace is different and
managerial styles vary, incorporating the
following practices into your organiza-tion’s
managerial approach will go a long
way toward helping you and your team be-come
the best bosses:
Build relationships: Demonstrate you
care about employees as individuals, not
merely commodities, by inquiring about
their families and remembering person-al
details they share with you. Instead of
asking, “How was your weekend,” which
generally leads to a one-word reply, start
a conversation by asking open-ended
questions like, “What did you do over the
weekend?” You’ll be surprised about how
much you can learn.
Be transparent: Communicate with
employees about decisions that affect
them and explain the reasons for those
decisions. They may still be upset about
a particular decision but their response
will almost certainly be more negative
if they feel the decision was made ar-bitrarily
or without any regard for its
impact on them.
Empower employees: Ask employees
for suggestions about how to resolve op-erational
problems, increase efficiencies
and respond to new market demands, etc.
Soliciting ideas from employees will not
only improve engagement by making em-ployees
feel part of the team, but invariably
will yield creative ideas based on the em-ployees’
experience.
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HRPATODAY.CA ❚ MAY/JUNE 2014 ❚ 61