The idea for this post came from an idiot....I mean an idiot besides myself. Last week I read an article that listed things an employee should never say to their boss. I was confused because as a boss, I encourage feedback from employees, both positive and negative.
I suppose all my posts are the direct result of me reading an article or book written by a so called expert, and then thinking:
"Is he/she serious?"
"Have they ever worked in a corporate environment? "
"Are they suffering from some sort of disease which affects their cognitive functions?"
But then I realized that the person who wrote the article worked in the entertainment industry, where there is a BIG DIFFERENCE from the corporate environment. And that was why the article worked. In the entertainment industry employees are sometimes terribly abused because there are thousands of people lining up behind them to take their job. And being open with your boss, in that type of work environment can get you fired almost immediately. However for the rest of us whom work in a completely different world, have to abide by weird things like...oh I don't know, labor laws.
There are good and bad bosses everywhere, even in entertainment, and at times there are things that your boss doesn't want to hear, but that you should tell her/him just to keep from being over worked or worse yet, brow beaten and abused. Bosses need to learn their limits, just like employees,and I've listed below 25 things your boss should want to hear from you:
"No"- I had a friend once advise me that saying "no" to your boss was tantamount to treason, and that it could get you fired immediately. Well if your boss ask you for sex, are you going to say "no"? Or are you going to say "Well it might be difficult for me to fit in sex today, but possibly tomorrow. Is that okay?" This is an extreme example, but if your boss asks you to work late and miss your first baby's ultrasound, than tell him "no". Otherwise, he might expect you to work though your pregnancy, take an hour off to give birth, and then get back to work. It's okay to say "no" especially when you're setting a precedent on the parameters of your working relationship.
"I don't know "- I say this all the time, not only to current customers, but to CEO's and CFO's. Why? Because I'm not going to lie and act like I know something when I don't. I always follow it up with, "But if I can find an answer to that question/concern/issue, I will." We don't know everything so why would profess too be all knowing? I cannot profess to know everything, and a boss should never expect their employees to know everything. Subsequently, your boss should expect you at times to say, "I don't know." Besides, if you were all knowing, then why would you be working for someone else anyway? I'd take that all that knowledge and go to Vegas, or create an app that turns lead into gold.
I'll try - Oh this phrase used to infuriate me as a manager, because it sounds like an excuse for failure. As if someone is setting you up to be let down, but in fact now I welcome it because it really is the employee telling you they lack the confidence to make a solid commitment. Now, be careful here because if you ask them to start being on time for work, or to stop touching other employees inappropriately and they say, "I'll try", then you got some serious problems and a call to HR is appropriate. However, if you ask them if they think they can get a presentation done by tomorrow and they say "I'll try" this opens up the discussion as to why they may or may not be able to get it done. Feedback here is good.
"How does this help me?"- Managers don't like to hear this uttered because it seems selfish, but it's the truth. When managers talk about employees being team players there can be limits to being part of a team. For example, if a sales person ventures into your territory and signs an account you were working on and your manager wants to give them credit, and not you. My first question would be, "WTF is he doing in my territory?", and my second question would be, "Is there a way for me to punch this other sales rep without being fired?", and my final question to my boss would be, "How does this help me?" If you are ever
"I did my best" - Once again this seems like an excuse for an employee not to achieve a goal, but a manager should want to hear this because it opens up the room for discussion as to whether or not the employee's best effort is really enough to get the job done. If it isn't then the manager needs to refocus on helping that employee achieve their goals so it helps both the employee feel better about themselves and the team. Once again, do not tell your boss "I will do my best" if it comes to something basic like making time for a conference call, a meeting, or showing up for work. That's pretty lame...
"Sorry, except...".- I have used this term and heard this term many times from partners and fellow employees. It's usually followed by a reason why they haven't accomplished a task, and the except pertains to why they weren't able to accomplish this task. I have used this as positive feedback to determine if an employee is overburdened with work and unable to do their job in a reasonable period of time. Your boss should welcome this turn of phrase because again he/she is receiving feedback on why something didn't get done, an error the employee made which allows for training, or an opportunity to fire an employee who is a risk to keep employed. Like one that says, "Sorry I burned down the plant, except you gave me a bad performance review." No one wants to keep that type of employee.
"That's not my job..."-If you are forced to do something that is not in your job description, and is adding to your workload, you'd better tell your boss that it's not your job. I have seen employees take on additional work that is not part of their job and then receive a poor performance review because they weren't will to say "that's not my job". This is especially true for employees who are extremely efficient. Bosses will keep adding to their workload because they can rely on them, until they give them so much work that they can't be successful. By the way, if you're not working as a personal assistant and your boss asks you to pick up his dry cleaning for him, you should tell him, "that's not my job", and it would be perfectly appropriate. Personally, I would say something a little saltier like "____ off", but that's me.
I'm going to quit - First of all, your relationship with your boss should really never get to this point. However if you have tried every mode of communication and they're still not hearing you, or trying to oblige with your requests, then it's perfectly fine to threaten to quit. I had an employee who would threaten to quit every other month, but I knew that he was just trying to draw my attention to inefficient procedures in our processing plant. It worked, because we fixed them, and he stopped making threats. Now, did he have to go that extreme in order to get my attention, apparently he used this tactic in the past and it worked. I used his veiled threats as a training lesson and just explained to him that it wasn't necessary to bring all the drama to the work place. "Just tell me why your upset and let's work it out. "
"I assumed that..."- We are told never to assume because it makes ass out of you and me. Well, if you make an assumption and you're wrong than that's not good, but it's not the end of the world. If you're boss does not understand this than he's not very bright. People are going to make assumptions, and mistakes. That's the "Facts Of Life", and I don't mean the old television show that appears in syndication. It is human nature to make an assumption so your boss should not fault you for it. Keep in mind if you make an assumption and you're right then he'll applaud you for it.
"At (your old company), we would did it this way" - If your boss is so preoccupied with promoting the company culture that he/she can't listen to feedback about a competitor, that person is blind to any other way of doing things. If someone ever comes to me with a more efficient way of doing something than I will reward that person, even if the idea came from a competitor. As a boss, it is important to keep an open mind and an open door all the times. Otherwise, you don't see the bigger picture. However, this does not mean you should keep saying, "It was better at my old company" because then even your fellow employee will urge you to return, if it was so great.
It's not my fault...It was (insert random name here)- No one likes a person who points fingers at other employees. Nobody likes a "rat". However, if you're about to lose your job because of someone else's mistake, I would be pointing 8 fingers at that person. If I have a great employee, who is incorrectly blamed for a problem, I would want them to tell me who made the mistake. It's not like you're Henry Hill and this is the movie "Good Fellas". Yes, no one likes a "rat", but you have to stand up for yourself if no one else is going to do it for you. If it's not your fault, then you need to say so, and this applies to employees only not managers. The worst thing a manager can do is blame his subordinates. Well, then he's not really a manager, he's just a jerk.
The employer and employee relationship are tantamount to the success of a business. If your boss can't listen to feedback in a constructive way then he's not a good boss. Please keep in mind it's all in the way you approach him, and how effectively you communicate your ideas. Employees and employers must always keep an open mind and an open heart.
Have a great day!
No comments:
Post a Comment