- February 18, 2009
- 2 Comments
4 Seemingly Good Morale Boosters That (Probably) Aren’t
Like 3 a.m. Taco Bell runs or getting on stage at a Vegas nightclub to freestyle, the following employee management practices seem like really good ideas at the time, but can end up doing you – and your employees – a disservice. Take a look.
- “Protecting” them from bad news. “Companies often want to keep things secret and think it’s better when employees don’t know,” says Holly Green, author of “More Than a Minute: How to Be an Effective Leader in Today’s Changing World.” “Believe me, they know when something’s up.” And they almost always assume the worst. Now more than ever is the time to be open with employees – even if the news isn’t good. Tell them the situation, suggests Green and add, “And here’s what we’re going to do about it.” Otherwise, you’ll just let fear run rampant, and there’s no bigger morale killer.
- Believing that you can’t have too much of a good thing. Remember, all things in moderation, even when it comes to management. According to the Harvard Business Review (via BNET), when taken too far, strengths can actually become weaknesses. Avoid this trap and strike a balance by regularly seeking out – and then putting to use – employee feedback.
- Forbidding Facebook and other social media. Hear me out. While you don’t want to give your employees the green light to waste hours a day on Funnyordie.com, banning social networking during office time an effort to limit time-wasting may mean missing out on an opportunity to boost productivity among your employees . (Besides, if your employees are determined to waste time at work, they’ll find a way.) But also beware the dangers of…
- “Friending” your employees. Of course, you can – probably even should – be friends with your employees on sites like Facebook or Bebo. But proceed with caution: you might unwittingly learn or see things about your employees you wish you hadn’t (and vice versa). Read more on the ground rules for employee/boss Facebook relationships here.
Of course there are exceptions to every rule, and the above four are no…um, exception – but that’s not to say you shouldn’t proceed with caution. Know of any management practices you’ve seen or experienced that – in hindsight – were better in theory than in execution?
- Have a response? Join the discussion.
- Categories: Employee Engagement
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I think it’s a really bad idea for managers to be “friends” with their employees on Facebook (and vice versa). If a manager sees something really inappropriate on one of their employees’ Facebook pages, they technically can’t do anything about it because it’s not work-related but then they will feel really weird about it in the office. If my manager wanted to be my “friend” on Facebook, I would feel obligated to accept the request even though I wouldn’t want to. It just creates a lot of awkward feelings that can be avoided by not being friends with your boss on Facebook!
I think the caution here should be for the employee moreso than the employer. If you don’t want your employer or potential employers finding out things about you on your facebook page, myspace page or through any online presence you have, make your pages private or allow limited access. Or even better, don’t include anything of a questionable or illegal nature on your personal pages… period. It’s better to censor yourself than to have something come back and bite you. The problem with this approach of course is that there is so much subjectivity involved. It’s a minefield out there on the interweb!