How to Become a Manager That Employees Want to Follow

How to Become a Manager That Employees Want to FollowHow to Become a Manager That Employees Want to FollowAnyone can become a boss- all that takes is hiring someone. Becoming amanager that your employees respectand willingly follow is a bit mora difficult. If you want to be a leader and not just a boss, you can learn how to lead people properly. For some people, these priorities and traits come naturally, but for most people, you have to consciously set out to become a great manager. Use these suggestions to find out how to become a leader that employees really want to follow. Recognize that You Need Employees Years ago, a colleague worked for Wegmans, a company that is consistently onFortune Magazines Top 100 Companies to Work For list. The then CEO, Robert Wegman, used to tell the employees, I dont know what you know, but I need what you know. This message rang loud and clear- Wegmans employees were valued. The reality is, even if you used to do the job that your employees are now doing, they know mora about the day to day tasks than you know now. You need to respect that. Give them credit for what they do. Your department would angelegenheit apart rapidly if all your employees quit. No matter how smart or how good you are, you need your employees. You need their knowledge, skills, and abilities. Let them know that you know that you need them. Then, youre all in it together. Treat Employees Fairly Its easy to play favorites. Oh, no new manager starts out saying, Im going to pick my favorite employee and shower her with praise and good projects. No, instead, it just happens. Why? Because youre human and you prefer and like some people more than others. Its easy to let personality get in the way of productivity. Dont do that. Take a step back and look and see if youre making assignments based on actual skill sets or on who you like the most. Good managers are fair and reward good performance, not brown-nosing. Give raises based on performance. Be fair w hen you approve vacation requests. If you allow Bob to work at home, but not Stephanie, make sure at your reasoning is well documented and will stand up in a court of law. Strive for fairness. Work Hard Nothing will make youremployees more resentful than a lazy manager. Of course, you do work that they dont necessarily see. (Just what goes on in all those meetings?) But, you should make every effort to work hard and to help out when needed. If theres a particularly unpleasant task that falls on your department, make sure youre heavily involved. Yes, the manager can clean toilets, stuff envelopes, or run a cash register when its busy. The manager that hides in her office during times when employees are doing unpleasant tasks will rapidly lose the respect of her employees. Dont expect your employees to come in before you and work after you leave. Dont expect them to do things you wouldnt do yourself. Managers get paid more because they do more. Make sure youre doing more. Employee s respect this. Correct Problems Sure, people like to think they are perfect, but in the business world, you dont progress if you dont fix your herausforderungs.A good manager gives feedback- positive and negative- and corrects problems as soon as possible. Telling an employee that shes doing a task wrong is painful and sometimes managers want to give the employee just one more chance before saying anything. While for minor errors, thats probably okay, for big things- important things, its not okay. You need to gather your personal, professional courage and speak up- no matter how painful or scary. For instance, if you notice that one of your employees is short tempered with customers, youll want to speak up now. Offer feedback and coaching as soon as you know there is a problem. Letting the problem continue will set this employee up for disaster. Ignoring the problem also reinforces with the employee that the behavior is okay.It also ruins the morale of your other employees. Wh y should they try when you just ignore the problems? Technical errors are generally non-emotional to fix. Bob, 22 equals 4, not 6, is easy to say. Personal issues are not. Bob, you spend a good deal of time talking about your coworkers. Its my job to manage your coworkers, not yours. Please, dont talk about them. If you have a concern about their performance, let me know and Ill take care of it. Its a managers job to shut down bullies, reward innovation, correct technical errors, and evaluate performance. Your employees expect it and will respect you when you do these things. Support Your Team Some managers like to grab the credit for all the good (Yes, it welches through my leadership that we managed to increase revenue by 10%,) but blame the employees for anything bad, (Jane and Steve made several errors that caused us to decrease our revenue by 10%.) Heres the thing Your team wont follow you if you blame them- even when it is their fault. So, Jane and Steve made several error s- its your job to correct that and to train them so they dont make them again. Try not to blame and take responsibility when things go badly.Give credit when things go well. Jane and Steve had an awesome year and thats why we increased our revenue by 10 percent, will earn you the respect of Jane and Steve, as well, We struggled this year in some areas. Im going to introduce several organizational changes so that next year well meet our revenue targets. Youre the manager and the whole departments performance is on your head. If there truly is a problem with an employees performance, it is your job to either fix it or fire the employee. If the problem continues, it is your fault. Dont forget that. Overall, Be Nice The most basic management advice is to be nice. Yes, sometimes you have to say hard things, but do it in a compassionate way. When you offer correction your goal is the improvement of performance for everyone, not a justification that you are right and they are wrong. U se that as your guiding principle and your employees will respect you and work harder, bringing your department success. - Suzanne Lucas is a freelance writer who spent 10 years in corporate human resources, where she hired, fired, managed the numbers, and double-checked with the lawyers.