Top Things You Should Never Do as a Boss

Receiving a promotion to managerial level is a career milestone and certainly something to be proud of. With the role comes great responsibility and expectation, so new bosses need to learn how to act and treat people respectfully. What needs to be remembered is that it is not just a case of what you do, but what you do not do that counts. To help set you on the right path, here is a run-down of the top things to avoid doing as a boss.

Not owning up to mistakes. As a boss, you want to be liked and respected; not considered arrogant and too important. Remaining humble will facilitate this and will show employees that you still acknowledge you are human. In addition, a boss should demonstrate the behaviour they expect of employees, and if you want employees to confess to mistakes then you need to do the same.

Not listening to employees. It may be tough to accept, but workers will be imagining themselves in your job and doing it better than you. Everyone has ideas - many of them good, so listen to them. Do not call a meeting with the entire team though; people are more likely to open up in a personal setting so simply find the time in a week or fortnightly basis to talk to workers individually about what they would like to see changed.

Keeping annual performance reviews. This may sound like a shocking suggestion, but the fact is they are largely a waste of time. If, as an employee, you do something wrong in January and have to wait a further 11 months to be told about it, the chances are you will have made the mistake many more times or won’t even remember what you did when it is finally mentioned. Or, your boss would correctly be doing their job and would tell you on the spot what you did.

That is the way it should be; when you are the boss of others, consider yourself their mentor, so you provide feedback on a daily basis where it is due – that does not mean you are telling someone when they do something wrong, it means telling them when they also do something right. That helps morale, keeps employees in the loop of what they are to do, and keeps work flowing steadily.

Being tyrannical. There is no shortage of people who hate working for their boss because of their attitude. A good boss is one who inspires workers and can get the best work out of them. That is not achieved with an iron rod and threats, but by encouraging, teaching, inspiring and letting employees know that your door is always open.

Refusing to increase salaries. The economic downturn has given employers the excuse of ‘You should just be pleased you have a job.’ True as it may be that many are unemployed, that has not stopped the cost of living going up. This means that not giving a raise is the equivalent of the worker taking a dock in pay. A good boss recognises that it is the workers that increase the profits of a company, and giving a raise will improve morale and may inspire the employees to work harder, which will benefit the company in the long run.

Pushing employees into round-the-clock workers. Some bosses like to use their strong work ethic to berate employees, for instance if the boss arrives to work on a Saturday, they often expect workers to do the same. This will lead to low morale amongst employees. A boss has the prerogative to turn up to work every day of the week, but it can not be expected for workers to ditch their families and do the same. It shows a lack of respect for the employees, and can be more detrimental to issues of workflow.