How to Not to Offend Staff

A fundamental topic that is covered on a management training course is that for most staff their manager is a role model. What the managers do and say will be considered according to whether it fits the “picture of the boss”.  “Minor” management mistakes can, thus, have a rather unexpected effect. 

These few examples that follow highlight the importance of needing to stop and think before you act.

Example 1: A manager makes the following comment to a member of staff regarding another employee: John got lucky, getting the contract from Alpha Ltd. The member of staff later relates the ‘lucky’ comment to John.

Example 2: While in negotiations with an important customer a sales manager ignores the sales person whose customer it is. The manager is so involved in the negotiation that he forgets to draw the sales person into the conversation.

Example 3: In a meeting the manager “teases” a rather tired looking staff member by saying: “You have looked fresher before”. The other members of the team and the employee are embarrassed.

In all these three examples above the manager has injured the self respect of their staff member. They will probably feel offended and betrayed. As a consequence, the employee clams up for a long time and performance levels fall. Most managers attending management training had no idea of the effects that it could have and regularly blamed the employee for their behaviour. Effective managers know that they should be sensitive to the feelings of their staff.

Example 4: An administrator has a long talk with her manager about the difficulty of dealing with a key client. The manager decides to deal with the client herself in future and tells another member of the team to inform the administrator

Example 5: One team leader hears from another team leader of an occurrence within the firm that she did not know about. The manager did not consider the matter to be important and did not tell the team leader about it.

In both of these cases, the manager had not dealt appropriately with the employee and has left them feeling that they are not important. It is highly likely that employees treated in this way will feel put down and not taken seriously.

Example 6: The manager promises an member of staff at an appraisal meeting that he will personally arrange a training course for the employee. The matter is subsequently forgotten by the manager.

Example 7: At a conference the sales manager comments on one of the organisational measures decreed by head office: “I am sorry but I can not change that.  Our Managing Director has had another idea”.

If the manager regularly breaks promises or shows a lack of respect towards or identification with the company, he or she automatically loses credibility and respect from their staff.

Example 8: At a friendly gathering after a team event the manager gossips about vague thoughts of re-allocating the team’s responsibilities.

Example 9: During a meeting the manager says to the team “We must rejuvenate ourselves”.

Each staff member suffers a certain amount of fear, which increases with age.  Spontaneous, un-considered remarks such as these stir up their fears. The consequence of this is that people look around for new jobs because they feel their jobs may be endangered.

These examples demonstrate the importance of those in management positions to consider the effect of their actions and words on their staff. Communication for managers is therefore core subject on management training courses because of its importance. So before you say or do anything, consider how it will be received by your employees.
 
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