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Loading ...Everyone is scared of losing their job because we are all so over-leveraged on our mortgages, home equity loans, cars and credit cards. Is now the time to tell your boss your true opinion and share your thoughts? I say yes but I’m sure most of America will shut up and take it. In good times, you would see this as high turnover but now, the fear of being replaced keeps that in check.
“Need me to work overtime”? No problem. ”Take on more work because of ‘downsizing’?” No problem. ”Need it done Monday?” No problem, I’ll skip my kids and work on it all weekend, and the next, and the next. It’s like we’re returning to the 50’s and 60’s when our parents were miserable and enduring long commutes and indignities for the good of the family.
Recessions can bring out the worst in the bully bosses. Not consciously but its almost a “what can I get away with?” mentality. It stops bosses from looking at employees as people. Instead they are a source for cost-savings.
The problem is you end up with “Emperor’s New Clothes” management. No one wants to rock the boat. No one wants to admit it is a wrong direction. So no one feels appreciated, empowered or connected to his or her job.
And while they may indeed hang on, we’ve seen after the job market goes through a downturn and starts to rebuild, the best jump ship quickly.
Management looks around stunned that their brightest quit. They are left with more “yes” people and the company never turns around.
How to keep it from happening to your business? If you are the boss, it is up to you to continually connect with your employees first as a person, and then as an employee. That means respecting their abilities and going out of your way to encourage dialogue without shutting them down. While a boss can do the job of two people, they can’t BE two people. You need conflicting ideas to be able to find new ways of doing things.
My advice if you are an employee – don’t let them get away with it. Find a way to connect to your boss as a person too. He or she is just as worried about their job too. Or maybe they have a sick mother or a child on drugs, just like some of your friends.
While the quickest way to build loyalty in your employees is to humanize the way you look at them, the quickest way to disarm the bullies is to humanize them in your mind.
Don’t make the mistake so many companies both large and small will make by letting the bullies rule – it will make you uncompetitive and a rotten place to work.
