Your employees are an asset to both you as a leader/manager and to the company as a whole. You already know that in order to get the most out of our assets, we need to take care of them. The same idea applies here – we must give the right kind of care and consideration to our employees in order to get their best in return. Hiring people is expensive. You (and the company) spend considerable time and energy to find and hire every single one of your employees. Furthermore, you hire people for a reason – you need a person to do certain work and you believe that this is the right person for the job. After you spend all this time and energy looking and hiring, it’s crucial that you take care of this asset. Failing to do so would be like buying something expensive then forgetting about it and leaving it to fall into disrepair. That would simply make no sense.
There’s nothing worse, nothing more toxic and wasteful than a company where the employee is seen as the enemy. If you feel the need to micromanage and believe that your employees can’t be trusted and must be watched every minute of the day, there’s something very wrong. You’ve either managed to hire the most sorry bunch of misfits this side of the Mason-Dixon Line, and need serious help with recruiting the right people, or you’re a paranoid micromanager and should get some help. Either way, if this is the kind of environment in which you work (and maybe even promote), then you have some serious work ahead of you.
Take a look at your employees and assess their talents and performance. Why were they hired? Are they doing the job? Are they living up to their potential? What are you doing to consistently get their best? It’s your responsibility as a leader/manager to evaluate and act accordingly, so that you (and the company) can reap the benefits of your employees’ gifts and talents, and nurture and develop their potential.
If you do work for a company where employees are not seen as assets, and feel overwhelmed by the idea of taking on the corporate culture, do your part by taking care of the assets in your department. Take care of the employees that you manage and reap the benefits that will come your way. Read through some of the previous posts to get ideas on how to coach and develop your employees, how to keep them happy, and how to get their best time and time again.
