How To Be a Good Boss or Employer

—

It’s easy to say someone is a “good” boss or employer. But what does it really mean? Does it simply equate to fostering a happy workplace where employees figuratively whistle while they work? Does it mean the boss is making money for a company on the backs of its laborers? Or does it mean the boss is just a nice guy or gal?

A former president and CEO of General Motors in its early years, Charles Erwin Wilson defined a good boss in this way: “A good boss makes (employees) realize they have more ability than they think they have so that they consistently do better work than they thought they could.”

Inferred in Wilson’s definition is the word, motivation. A boss must first motivate to gain the most from his team or business. You can lob the word, inspire, under the prerequisites for motivation. To motivate via inspiration, a good boss must adopt a multi-pronged approach that starts from hiring well, to communicating well, to leading by example, to vesting workers in the outcome of their labor, to genuinely caring about their lives.

According to Entrepreneur, just being boss ranks as one of the top five challenges listed by small business owners in the U.S. You may already be a great boss or employer but checking off the following qualities cited by most entrepreneurial media and associations may help you create your own “good boss” report card. Along the way, you will likely create a happy workplace budding with productivity as well.

Mind Yourself

Everything in your workplace centers on its foundation: you. If you are a business owner, you inherit the responsibility for the business plan, the mission, and operation of your enterprise. If you are a boss of a division, department, or team, you inherit the task of mirroring the owner’s blueprint for a productive and happy workplace—i.e., adopting the same day-in, day-out regimen toward being a good boss.

Everything you do each day of your routine can reflect on how your employees respond to you and succeed with the daily challenges of your business. Be a good leader. Don’t feel so superior that you can’t train by example. Roll up your own sleeves from time to time, whether to show someone how to execute a task correctly and productively or to simply help the team get over an unexpectedly big hurdle on a given day.

Don’t like ads? Become a supporter and enjoy The Good Men Project ad free

Also speak as courteously and respectfully to your employees or team as you would to your customers, vendors, or other associates. Smiles, gratitude, and positive expressions go a long way toward creating a successful enterprise and a happy workplace.

Hire Thoughtfully

It’s no secret that compatibility ranks high in creating an ideal workplace. When hiring, make sure your new team members prove compatible to your mission, goals, or end results. Then, make sure your new-hire paradigm includes the quality of compatibility with work mates. One way to tell whether a new hire fits this paradigm is to determine whether he or she speaks the same language as you and your team. In short, does the new hire grasp your concepts readily during the interview process? Can the new hire communicate these concepts with brevity and articulation? Is the person’s personality a fit?

Equip Your Team for Success

Design procedures and best practices for your workers that position them for success. Give them the tools they need to not only accomplish goals but to exceed standards when they see a way to accelerate or put some polish on the matter at hand. Just as importantly, remind and reinforce workers by explaining how the goal or mission advances from successful completion of the task. At the end of the day, you and your workers can ask together: “Did I further our cause in some way today?”

Further, provide resources for your employees that make them better and more educated or skilled workers. Not only should you guide them to classes, seminars, or training sessions that enable advancement, but get to know each employee on a personal basis. For example, what if an employee falls into a lifestyle habit that appears to be deterring their productivity or even safety at work? Drug or alcohol use, for example, often endangers not only the worker but the workplace in general. Sometimes, employers must administer drug testing to determine the problem and then begin to resolve it, ensuring that the individual (and their team) stays happy and healthy.

Also, maintain a resource department that helps and navigates your employees through personal matters affecting their work, whether family related, financially related, or personally related in the vein of alcohol or drugs. Their success at work depends greatly on their success and happiness outside of work.

Vest Your Workers in Outcomes

Never be afraid to delegate a task loftier than what a worker’s job description entails if you know the particular employee possesses the potential. This all falls under Wilson’s sagacious advice about making employees think they have more ability than they imagined—reaching heights once inconceivable to the employee.

By handing the steering wheel over to an employee, that worker feels more empowered and responsible for the company’s success and, more importantly, part of the operation’s fabric, an indelible asset to the boss and company.

Reward plays an equal role in vesting your workers in the company’s success. Make them aware of their advancement potential in title and pay. When the company exceeds financial goals, you might consider bonuses for your workers. Even a celebratory party, banquet, or outing of some kind can reinforce a kindred spirit between boss and team—a bonding that can ultimately result in a bountiful and happy workplace.