by Nigel Hilton
All relationships are complicated. Some may sound simple enough, but when it involves two people who are emotionally invested, and who spend a lot of time together, then it doesn’t matter -- things are going to become complex, even if the basis for the relationship is professional. If you’re a business owner with staff working for you, then you’ll need to actively work towards developing a sound working relationship with your team. If you do, you’ll have a staff who enjoys working there, gives it their all, there’ll be a nice office ambiance, and so on. If you don’t, you can expect plenty of unnecessary and avoidable headaches! Below, we take a look at how you can ensure your working relationships are nothing but positive.
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Hire Correctly
It all begins with your hiring policy. Many business leaders are in the habit of bringing a new member of staff on board based solely on what they’ve read on the resume. They’re looking only at the skills, and what they can do. This might sound logical, but it’s incorrect -- you need to look beyond the resume and check that the potential employee is a fit with your company culture and the rest of your team. If they’re on the same page as everyone else in the business, it’ll be much easier to keep those lines of communication open. And talking of which….
Open Communication
The myth of the genius, aloof entrepreneur needs to do. For starters, studies have shown that the visionary CEO ends up doing more harm than good. Second, they contribute to a poor working environment. For your staff to be comfortable working for you, they need to know they can knock on your door, express their concerns, and be met with respect. Being in charge is about more than just being the person who makes the decisions; it’s about having the interpersonal skills that make people want to work for you.
Legally Sound
It doesn’t matter how much effort you put into fostering positive vibes with your staff. Eventually, you’re going to run into some sort of legal difficulty. It happens to every company at one stage or another. That it happens is not important; how you respond to it is. To ensure the workplace isn’t affected by a legal matter between the company and an employee, it’s best to keep emotion out of it, and keep strictly to the legal side of things. If you have a legal matter between you and a member of staff, look at directing the issues towards experts, like those at FremstadLaw.com. It’ll prevent the workplace from becoming a battleground.
Handling Disagreements
And talking of workplace battlegrounds, it is inevitable that eventually there’ll be a falling out of some kind between employees. As the leader, it’s up to you to solve this issue, though how you do it will depend on the nature of the issue. It might mean bringing them together to clear the air, or ensuring they’re kept a healthy distance from one another.