Like A Boss

How do you motivate a team to do good work for you?  Do you be nice to your coworkers and expect that they'll do good work for you in kind, or do you yell at your employees and expect that they'll work hard because they feel their job is in jeopardy if they fail?

Which is the best approach?

I have been in those shoes before.  I have been in a position where I was in charge of a staff of employees, so I have some first-hand knowledge on this topic.  As a supervisor, you still have bosses who demand a lot from you.  And you, in turn, have to expect a lot from your employees.  If you employees fail, you fail.  So, there is a lot of pressure for a supervisor to get his/her team to perform at a satisfactory level.  But what is the best approach to get employees to work?

If a boss has a tendency to be nice with their employees, then the work place environment becomes casual.  Casual work environments have pros and cons associated with them.  The good thing with a positive work environment is that morale is high.  Workers who are happy at their jobs want to stick around so retention is high.  They'll enjoy their job and usually leave work in a good mood.  They'll get work done, and the employees will feel open to voice any concerns that they have with their boss.  After all, their boss is their friend too! :) [All smiles and wonderful things here]!! :D :D :D

However, this does create other problems.  In a casual work environment, the employees are shielded from the reality of what is really going on.  Employees usually do not realize that despite getting work done, they aren't getting enough work done.  Because it is a casual, friendly environment with a friend as a supervisor, the supervisor never takes any initiative to motivate his/her employees to work harder.  Therefore, they constantly fail to meet deadlines, and they fall behind as a result.  While this is happening, the supervisor gets yelled at, and shields his/her team from it. Employees, therefore, do not realize that stress that their supervisor is under.  Two things happen then:

1. The supervisor ends up "taking one for the team" and doing the extra work.
2. The supervisor ends up losing his/her job due to incompetence to lead.

In either case, having a too casual work environment usually ends badly for the supervisor.  It doesn't negatively affect the coworkers, until they get yelled at by upper-management.  A lot of them may even leave when their supervisor gets let go.  Those who stick around lose morale as soon as a different supervisor takes over who isn't buddies with them. 

Now, another option is for the supervisor to be a "drill sergeant"  and ride their employee's asses to get the job done.  This is what I refer to as a "concentration camp." This leads to a lower morale with the employees.  The employees become afraid of discussing issues with their boss because they fear being yelled at.  The employees dread going to work everyday, so they tend to either A) come up with excuses to not go to work, B) work despite their issues and get extremely stressed out, or C) quit.

Having a boss yell all of the time hurts employee retention.  And this isn't just a small deal.  Those people who dealt with this boss, tell other people.  And soon word of your notoriety spreads.  Now, people won't even apply for the job because they know they'd have to deal with you.

On top of that, it doesn't change the fact that you are still getting your ass ridden by upper-management.  Your employees that DO work for you yet, have so little morale, they do not care if they get fired.  Therefore, they will work slowly, regardless of how much you yell or scream.  You could threaten their job, and they'd cower down and work, but be definitely considering their options.  Other employees that work hard for you, despite getting their asses ridden all of the time, start to stress out.  They tend to drink when off work, and are constantly stressed even at home.  This also leads to the condition where employees that work their asses off, feel all of the pressure is on them to do the extra work of the employees who don't work as hard.  Results are all that matter.  More than likely, the employees good deeds will not be noticed, nor complimented, and they'll just feel both emotionally and physically drained as a result.

One of the things I had learned at my previous job is that you don't yell at your employees.  You want to be firm and direct with them.  You want to make sure they know you are in charge and what you say goes.  But they also need to know that it is okay for them to talk to you about any issues they may have.  Keep your conversations direct and to the point.

As a supervisor, it is not your job to be friends with your employees.  You can be on friendly terms with them, but it is NOT recommended to be friends with them.  Employees will respect you more, if you seem authoritative and to the point.  Treat your employees with the same respect you would have them expect of you.  An employee with a good morale, and a good structured work environment will always be more productive.

As a shift lead, I had a staff of only 4 people at maximum.  We were horribly understaffed and unable to keep employee retention where it needed to be.  This was due to the fact that our shift was a weekend shift that ran during the summer, AND was overnight.  Being understaffed lead to a lot of stress, and we all felt it.  I had developed a motto at this point, "If you work for me, I will work with you."  This meant that as long as you were doing your job and putting forth effort at doing it, I would be right there next to you, busting my ass with you.  If you failed, I'd be right there with you.  We failed together.  But if you were a slacker, who didn't want to do the job or just didn't want to be there, then I would have you fired.  And, unfortunately, that did come up with an employee I had who just didn't care at all about the job or whether he even showed up to work on time.

Now, I work a job where I'm no longer a supervisor of any kind.  I had to step down and go back to square one with a completely different industry and job.  I have a boss who towards the beginning would yell at me for making mistakes.  I admit that I tend to make more mistakes when I'm overwhelmed by new information.  I work in a retail job and rules change from day to day.  I've heard it implied that you are not an adult if you don't like being yelled at.  That is simply not true.  Morale affects everyone equally, regardless of age.  The only difference is, the more qualified you are, the less you are likely to put up with it.  I don't get yelled at as much, and I feel more motivated to give it my all.  Getting yelled at destroys my morale, and my will to work.  The firm but friendly supervisor who acknowledges the good work I do, is the supervisor I want to work under.

Thanks for reading this!!  If you have any comments that you would like to add, feel free to share them below. :)