Investing in boss-employee relationship health can benefit a company's bottom line
When it comes to small business growth, many employers do not realize that problems often start at home.
Employee satisfaction is crucial to the success of a small business, reported Entrepreneur magazine, noting that one of the most important things small business owners can do is to get employees to respect them.
Employees who like and respect their bosses are more likely to work harder and be invested in the company's success, the magazine reported, adding that negative attitudes can bring down other employees and can breed resentment.
Stephone Darby, president and CEO of Advanced Information Technologies, told Entrepreneur that employees are a small business' most important asset.
"If employees perform their work with expertise and timeliness and provide good customer service, the employer will retain their customers, grow their business with them and get referrals based on their relationship with them," he told the magazine.
Unhealthy employee-employer relationships increase the likelihood that one or more of those conditions are not met, the article added.
These relationships often suffer during a recession, Mark Murphy - CEO of research firm Leadership IQ and author of Hundred Percenters: Stop Making Your Employees Happy, Start Making Them Great - told the magazine.
Murphy said that leadership often takes a hit during economic downturns, as employers either find themselves too stressed to invest in healthy employee relationships or take advantage of the high employee retention levels that tend to come with poor job markets.
However, as Murphy's research shows that 70 percent of companies who make positive progress during a recession will continue to grow and succeed when the economy rebounds, Entrepreneur noted that this is the most important time to improve employee-employer relationships.
To "bridge the boss-employee gap," the magazine advised small businesses to avoid double standards when it comes to company rules and regulations.
Employers should also share the dirty work, keep spirits high through humor, hold employees accountable both for positive and negative outcomes, and elicit trust by being transparent with thought processes and decisions.
Another strategy for improving morale and employee satisfaction is increasing the use of performance evaluations., according to recent research.
A study from the Kinexa Research Institute found that employees who are given regular performance evaluations are more engaged and satisfied with their jobs and bosses, though just 60 percent of employees have received evaluations in the last 12 months.
