ROBERTA BHASINis the author of Mastering Management-A Guide for Technical Professionals which is published by Miller Freeman Inc. She also conducts seminars and speaks on management for technical professionals.

CAREER DEVELOPMENT

Endearing yourself
to your employees

Last month, this column discussed how to foster a good relationship with your boss. Now it is time to look at the relationships with your employees. Next month, we will talk about those with your peers.

If you are the kind of boss who feels that it is up to your employees to create a good relationship with you, consider that there are benefits to actively cultivating it yourself. For example, when employees are happy with their boss, they are more happy with their work. Such employees do better work because they take pride in it and feel a sense of ownership. They also stick around longer, reducing your costs of recruiting and training new employees. And, they tend to talk positively about the company both on and off the job, which creates positive word of mouth advertising -probably the most effective kind. All of these things lead to better customer service and more satisfied customers, and, of course, repeat business.

Given the benefits, here are some ways to go about endearing yourself to your employees.

GIVE ENCOURAGEMENT. Let employees know when they are doing well. Have a celebration when they, as a group, are doing exceptionally well. Give constructive feedback when they are not doing so well. Remember that behavior positively reinforced will occur again and again.

PROVIDE CHALLENGES. To the extent that the nature of the work allows, provide challenges for your employees. It makes the work more interesting and encourages new ways of thinking, new approaches to old problems, and new ways of working. Innovation is on management's agenda, so put it on everyone else's, too.

BE DEPENDABLE. A boss who changes from hot to cold creates an unsettled atmosphere. Give employees clear, consistent directions and clear, consistent feedback. Also, be around-not an absentee. If you must be away, be available by phone.

ELICIT FEEDBACK. "How am I doing as a boss?" is a good and fruitful question to include in performance appraisals that you do with your people. "How could I be of more help to you?" "Are there things we could improve around here that would make our work better?" If you have an attitude that encourages self-improvement across the board, employees will be candid with you and will follow your lead. The result will be increased productivity and better morale.

ASK FOR OPINIONS. The idea of pushing decision making down to the lowest levels has been around a long time. Some managers still resist it, though, as an assault on their wisdom and authority. Remember that two (or three or four) heads are better than one when it comes to problem solving. And if employees are affected by the decisions you are making, they will respond better to the ultimate decision if they were included in the discussion-even though the decision might not be the one they advocated.

REMEMBER WHAT YOU ARE TOLD. Has an employee told you far in advance that she is going on a special vacation? That his child is ill? That he just can't stand chocolate? Don't decide to give a special assignment that needs to be completed while that trip is in progress. Don't glibly talk about quality time with your own children. Don't order brownies for the next staff meeting. Remembering little-and not-so-little-things about people helps any relationship, but it is especially necessary with employees who need to feel that they matter-on a personal as well as a professional basis.

INCLUDE EVERYONE. Playing favorites is a great way to create an atmosphere of competition instead of cooperation, resentment instead of contentment, and indifference instead of involvement. Share information with everyone or no one. Distribute the workload evenly, and give a choice assignment to each of your people occasionally. If you feel you can't do that, then you need to look at your hiring and training practices, not creating stars.

BE NICE. This doesn't mean being a pushover. It means keeping trivial problems to yourself. It also means being pleasant, cheerful, optimistic, and positive. Be open and candid, too, but do not yell or throw tantrums when there is a problem or something is going wrong with a project.

GIVE CREDIT FOR GOOD WORK. And, finally, give credit where credit it due. Any boss who takes credit for an employee's work will quickly get next to nothing from that employee in the future. Take pride in your employees' work, instead. And take pride in creating an atmosphere in which they excel.