Why are so many employees disenchanted and disillusioned by their jobs? This article by Claris Fernandez on Bizcovering.com suggests that there are four main areas that cause friction between employees and their bosses.
- Attitude problems. According to Fernandez, "The reasons for a person having an attitude problem are so deep-rooted and complex that you don't want to solve any problem that you encounter." Deal with attitude problems quickly and try to avoid them as much as possible.
- Communication problems. Somewhere along the way to becoming a manager, it seems like most people lose their ability to speak. Management-speak is filled with strange phrases and euphemisms that most employees have no time for, don't understand and resent.
- Disagreements. Most managers don't take the time to know the various personalities of the people who report to them. They take a one-attitude approach to everyone, and this doesn't always work with everyone and this leads to arguments. Nothing side-tracks a project like arguing.
- The doers. These are the go-getters in any department or organization. These are the people who get things done. As a manager, you should identify these people as soon as possible.
Of course, the list of issues that employees complain about goes on a lot longer, but these are some key issues to keep in mind. If you keep these straight, maybe you can manage your people better, become productive, have fewer management problems and, crucially, have more happy employees reporting to you.
You may want to check out a book written by Bach Anon titled Dropping Almonds to get an inside look at the politics of corporate America. There are some tips to managing and protecting yourself from the piracy of executive leaders.