Get To Know Your Employees

Some people are more interesting than other. You’ve probably experienced that when you are somewhere where you do not know a lot of people and begin to talk to them. After awhile you tend to move on to talk to someone else.  The same applies to certain kinds of work. As a result, it’s easy for managers to find themselves spending more time with employees who interest them, and less time with those whose personalities or assignments are less stimulating. If we have an employee who’s interested in the same things we are we tend to spend more time with them because we have more in common and it’s easy to talk to them. If an employee has interests that we are not familiar with we will stay away. It’s your job as a manager to get to know a little about that employee and their interests.

Nevertheless, people work better for managers they can talk to and who are familiar with their problems. One of the most important qualities of good managers, in fact lies in the inspiration and guidance they give people by taking an interest in them and their work.

Managers who isolate themselves from some of their people lose touch with what’s going on in their department. They may also lose control over what they themselves are doing. By the time they learn about problems, what should have been molehill may have grown into mountains. It’s very easy to talk to all your employees. We all have something in common. Current events, sports, weather, family and more. People love to talk about themselves. Give them a chance and you will see that they are more interesting than you think.

It’s a natural reaction to ignore people and activities that don’t particularly interest you. It’s something, therefore, that a smart manager is careful to guard against. It just doesn’t pay and it’s neglectful, intentional or not.

Some otherwise good managers surprisingly find it hard to talk to co-workers. They prefer to communicate impersonally by writing memos. If you haven’t realized it by now what you mean doesn’t always get interpreted the way you meant.  Gradually, they lose the values that accrue to both sides from face to face contact.

It’s nice to have an office where you can get away from it all, but you still have to periodically make the rounds, chat with people, show an interest in them and their gripes, listen to their ideas. People need to talk to their manager about how their jobs are going and how they feel about their work. They may still have to solve their own problems, but being able to get things out in the open helps. It’s also the best way for a manager to help nip trouble in the bud.

Good managers get out of their chairs and find out firsthand what their people are thinking and doing.