What makes a good to great employer?

Gordon,

Thanks for this thread.

My list of Some of things that make a Good Employer...

Good Employer Thing 1. Respectful speech. Talk to the employees like they are people and not like they are vile animals that just soiled your expensive Persian Rug.

This goes Deeper than just being terse, abrupt, condescending, belittling and so on, even when the employee did nothing wrong. It extends to How you get tasks done and the tone of your voice in the words used. Do you Order someone, Ask them or Ask if they would like to? Here's the difference...

1 - Bob, get the crate of milk from outside and put it in the fridge.

2 - Bob, would you get the crate of milk from outside and put it in the fridge please.

3 - Bob, would you like to get the crate of milk from outside and put it in the fridge.

Number 1 can work, if the tone of the voice is correct. Watch Jean Luc Picard in Star Trek First Contact. When he is on the planet and issues a flurry of orders of who remains, what they do and who comes back to the ship with him. Correct tone use. Very well done.

Number 2 is the best way. Doesn't require as much tone-skill and does not end in resentment as number 3 can.

Number 3 begs an answer, "No I would Not like to." The answer is Not expressed but then the person does the task and feels they are now doing something they did not want to do and resents it.

Good Employer Thing 2. Chastise in private. IF you need to scold an employee, do it in private. If you do it in public you will create a visceral opponent for yourself. You will have lost all respect, loyalty and enthusiasm and will end up with a staff member who will "burn 20s" (work so slow and without effort it's the same as if the employer had simply burned $20 notes - lost money without getting anything for it) and may even begin to pilfer (toilet rolls, pens, office supplies, etc).

Good Employer Thing 3. No nepotism. It goes against our sense of Fair Play and is often detrimental to the workplace and the staff moral. Specially as the nepotism usually results in a position of power - which is abused - that is given to someone who is not competent.

Good Employer Thing 4. Credit where credit is due. If someone performs well, They should be given the credit for it, not the Supervisor taking the credit.

Good Employer Thing 5. Words of praise not just words of condemnation. Rare is the employer who can congratulate work well done. Most say nothing when things go well and blow their stack when things go bad.

Good Employer Thing 6. Non threatening. Some employers use job-loss threats to Motivate staff. That is counter productive. May work Short term but not long term.

Good Employer Thing 7. Fair Work Hours. Do NOT do - or even try - to "work your workers to the bone" or think of them in derogatory terms. One "boss" I know of has said of his workers, "I don't give a fug about them. I just work em to the bone and when they leave I get another one". He has also been known to call them "Goons". To him, they are not people but disposable goons he can treat how he likes - including expecting them to work long hours (14 hour days) and discard them if they object.

Good Employer Thing 8. Be competent. Nothing gets under the skin of an employee more than a boss who Thinks they know better when the skilled and able employee sees they don't. Similar to telling the man who does it, How to do it instead of leaving them alone to do it. Results in staff thinking the boss is an idiot and loses any remaining respect they may have had for the boss.

Good Employer Thing 9. remain level headed. A boss with a temper, short fuse, or other Outburst Tendencies, is not a good boss. Staff grow to hate them and coming to work, as they never know when the volcano boss will erupt.

Good Employer Thing 10. Pay your staff on time. Many have money troubles and paying late or inconsistent will effect them mentally, create additional stress in them, and lower their performance.

Good Employer Thing 11. Pay your staff well. This includes bonuses and allowances. One guy I know Used to do Laboring. He decided to get a Trade as as Sheetmetal Worker. He accepted the reduced money as an Apprentice. But became gradually upset as he viewed his tasks as those of a general laborer and not an apprentice. And as the Labor Rate was higher, he thus viewed his position as Slave Labor. Spoke to the Apprentice Board who looked into it and found the company did not even do the work which would have enabled him to get the trade in the end. So he left and got a Labor Job and makes Much more money - nearly $10 an hour more!

This isn't to say incompetence should be highly rewarded. But competence should not be screwed and people's efforts not taken blatant advantage of.

This list is not the end. But a boss that follows this list is doing well.

Note, that I have NOT mentioned Benefits (whatever they include). Such Bribes MAY be used to Entice Good Workers, but such things do Not make a Good Boss. They make a Better Job. A Better working environment. And for mine, I would rather get a Bigger Paycheck than a smaller one but with Benefits. I can use the money, while the benefit might not ever be used.

Michael Ross