Workplace Relationships

Editor’s Note: Here at Dispatches, we are always looking for ways to help our readers do things. For some of our readers, that means helping navigate the working world, for others, it means assisting in the ever challenging question,“what’s for dinner?” For still others, it means figuring out how to balance family life with everything else. In an effort to aid in all of these endeavors, we have collaborated on this article written specifically for our readers. 

You probably became your own boss because you liked working for yourself more than you liked working for someone else. If you’re lucky to have outgrown solopreneurship and need to hire an additional employee or employees, consider implementing a few elements that might have made you more likely to stay at your last position. There are a few universal tactics that when implemented correctly could help you have a great relationship with dedicated and loyal employees. 

Make Work Flexible
As a business owner, it’s not your job to coddle employees. But if you can take steps to improve their quality of life while achieving your business goals, you should. Clock watchers just make everyone miserable. If appropriate, consider making work time flexible and trust your employees to get the work done. Employers who insist on certain working hours often end up creating a lot more work for themselves.

There have been great advances in remote working tools and there are many apps help businesses manage communication with staff and conduct projects.

Automate Payroll
Most people without experience in business assume that wages are the only cost of employing people. But there are plenty of other expenses that go along with the hiring and employing process. One of those expenses is managing payroll. Businesses spend hundreds of hours filing payroll taxes and payroll paperwork and it costs time in addition to money.

Fortunately, the process can be automated by using payroll software such as payroll 1099 software ETC. 

Be More Transparent
Recently, the American Psychological Association posted a report on employee trust. They found that around a quarter of workers in the US don’t trust their employer. About a half of all those questioned said they didn’t believe their company was always candid. A lack of trust makes the job of managing people a lot harder because employees are always questioning motives and concerned about ulterior motives.

Another consequence of a lack of trust is that employees aren’t forthcoming. If they recognize a problem, they’re more likely to keep it to themselves than to inform you. Thus, companies that lack transparency are more liable to have to deal with crises that seemed to come out of nowhere when usually there was something small that could have been fixed early in the process for a lot less time and money.

The other problem is that it is a barrier to collaboration. Employees often want to work together to solve problems. But if the culture is closed, problem-solving becomes harder. People are unwilling to share information that could be used to solve a problem or make a process better.

Build A Community
Management might not like this fact, but companies that are peer-to-peer tend to be a lot more successful. We’ve all grown up in a world where hierarchy is assumed to be the best way to do business. But innovative companies are showing that this is not necessarily the case. Just look at the success that companies like Valve have had using the peer-to-peer model.

The lesson here seems to be that a community of equals is far more productive than a hierarchy. Employees are more likely to feel that they have support and a stake in the organization. As a result, they’ll work harder and enjoy their job more.