The manager–employee relationship

The manager–employee relationship

Management and leadership can be approached on several tiers:

• First: The mutual relationship of manager–employee;
• Tier two: managing a team;
• Tier three: managing an organisation.

The last tier is rather strategic by nature and constitutes shaping the culture and policy of the organisation if we are to speak about the soft aspects.

The mutual relationship of manager–employee is still a subject of analysis, because creating a lasting relationship between the manager and the employee is an art just as it requires consistent work. This mutual relationship is a cell in the organisation. How healthy it is defines the health of the entire team or organisation.

If a cell has become sick, it needs to be cured. After all, cancer cells, too, spread across the body unless they are treated.

If an employee is not happy with their relationship with the manager, they will continue to spread the discontent by:

• Moaning and complaining,
• Spreading negative energy,
• Belittling the manager and the organisation in general,
• Inciting evil in others;
• Underperforming.

How do you create a lasting employee–manager relationship?

Still, at the heart of things is the manager’s healthy attitude towards themselves. You cannot handle the employee unless you can handle yourself. The usual hygiene of the relationship is this:

• Respect for the employee as a person.
• Acceptance of the employee. Employees have flaws and if they annoy me and I cannot overcome my being annoyed, I will not be able to develop a healthy relationship. First you have to work with yourself, and not on the flaws of the employee.
• Honest. The concept of honesty includes both equity and openness. An ability to be open in a relationship matters to all of us.

Please note that neither respect, nor acceptance, nor honesty takes any time at all.

The other two key and hygienic elements of a relationship are:

• Attention and
• Communication.

In this age of hurry, this is the thing that many managers stumble over. We no longer have time for our employees. And employees are one of the resources that have been pushed aside unfairly; a reserve that we also need to manage.

We try to explain it to the employees that we have many reasons why we can never find time for them, what with all the assignments, duties, jobs, meetings with clients, and so on. Employees at first try to understand us.

But later they feel abandoned, their questions unanswered, problems unsolved. What do they do? They begin building a stronger relationship with their co-workers, who then become more important, both as persons and as advisers, than the manager.

In other words, the manager loses the relationship with the employees.

What is to be done?

Make yourself set time for private meetings with each and everyone employee in your agenda. Schedule one meeting per month, ideally per week.

Dr. Alisa Miniotaite, Leadership and management expert, Founder of ALISA MANAGEMENT LABORATORY, International certified ICC coaching trainer for Baltic countries.

Source: Ziniu radijas. Full record in Lithuanian you can listen here.