Managers and HR professionals are the backbone of the office. You keep the ship afloat and guide the rest of the team toward success. There’s a lot of information out there about what kind of things you should be doing as you continue to grow in position as a workplace leader. However, it’s just as important to take a step back and review your current practices to see where you may be lacking or erring. Here are some important management practices to avoid.
One management practice all HR professionals and managers should steer clear of is picking favorites. Sure, you may gravitate toward a certain employee that you get along with very well personally, or you may have a special place in your heart for the employee that goes above and beyond in their performance. But this can easily turn into pitting your team members against each other, oftentimes without you even realizing it. It’s great to form relationships with employees and it’s crucial to recognize stellar work, but managers and HR professionals need to strive for equality in the workplace. If you are constantly putting one or two employees on a pedestal, the rest of your team will start resenting each other and will feel that they have to fight each other for your approval, and this does not bode well for productivity.
HR professionals and managers are supposed to manage and guide employees. But some workplace leaders can take this role too far when it comes to particular employees. Every employee has a different work style. Some employees thrive under close attention and feedback, but some are more independent and would like to be treated as such. Micromanaging an independent employee will put a damper on their morale because they will feel that you aren’t respecting them and their abilities. Chances are, you probably hired this person because of their forward thinking, go-getting attitude. Let those qualities shine by giving them the space they need. It’s up to the managers and HR professionals to know each team member well enough to understand their individual work styles and needs.
Every workplace needs rules. But HR professionals and managers can sometimes go overboard. Ask your employees for anonymous feedback on which rules they think are reasonable and which ones are way too strict. Things like limiting bathroom breaks or forbidding even a few minutes of personal conversation is probably a little extreme. Your employees are adults who understand what workplace conduct is supposed to look like. A great solution for managers and HR professionals who feel that something is amiss in their office is to look out for employees who may have particular need of stricter rules. Take them aside and discuss this behavior with them, that way your entire team doesn’t have to suffer for the problems of a few.
Your team will work best when they know that they have managers and HR professionals that they can look up to and respect. Correcting potentially harmful behaviors is just as important as implementing new positive techniques.