Employees - Treat them the way they Expect to be Treated
When you have to deal with one of your team who's complaining to
you, rather than allowing your negative programmes to take over,
get your thinking part in gear and try to see the situation the
way they see it. You don't necessarily have to agree with them
but perhaps you can empathise with their point of view.
The successful manager thinks about the people they have to deal
with, is sensitive to how they see things and knows that they
might think differently than they do.
Let me give you an example: I've always had a thing about good
timekeeping; it's something that's been programmed into my
brain. If you agree to meet me at 8.30 in the morning, I'll be
there at 8.20; I will always do my utmost be on time.
So I used to get angry when a member of my team would show up
late for a meeting or an appointment with me. When I got angry
I'd get stressed and end up saying something that I regretted
later. Therefore, I learned to start thinking about the
situation and try to see it from their point of view and not let
my programming run my brain.
That doesn't mean to say I ignored the lateness or did nothing
about it; I thought very carefully about what I wanted to say
and spoke to the team member about how we would resolve this
situation.
The point about this is - I'm not prepared to allow that team
member's behaviour to run my mind. Getting angry and stressed is
not good for our health and it isn't a productive way to
motivate our team.
We all see the world in a different way based on our culture and
how we were brought up. So it's very important to understand
this, particularly when you give your people feedback be it good
or bad.
Last year I spent several weeks in a particular hotel running
seminars and I started to get to know some of the staff. One day
I noticed that Carol the conference manager had been named
employee of the month and her photograph was displayed in the
reception area. When I congratulated her on this honour I was a
bit surprised at her reaction - "I hate it, I'm so embarrassed,"
she complained.
Carol didn't like the attention she was getting and as a result,
this recognition by her manager didn't motivate her. Another
member of the team could possibly see this completely
differently and regard it as a great honour.
If you have good rapport with your people then you become
sensitive to how they see things. The successful business person
understands each member of their team and doesn't reward
everyone in the same way.
I've often heard managers say - "I treat people the way I expect
to be treated." The successful manager says - "I treat people
the way THEY expect to be treated."