Now that’s what we call great boss material. Sadly, that sort of thing doesn’t happen to most of us. But there are things bosses can do to make life better both for employees and the company bottom line. After all, a happy employee is a productive employee. Bosses of Australia, are you reading this?
Give random days off
Just occasionally, a boss should email staff at 5pm and say don’t bother coming in tomorrow, everybody. At the very least, they should take slack days like Melbourne Cup Day (which isn’t a public holiday outside Victoria), ditch the facade of working for half a day, stick a bookie and a bar in the corner and tell everyone to go crazy.
Cut a little slack
Some days, you’re just not on fire. A London company one Puncher worked for had a policy that if you were hungover or out of sorts, you wore a cap that meant “don’t talk to me”. That way, people tend to save sickies for genuine sick days. This could obviously backfire and humiliate the cap wearer. But we think it’s a good idea. In fact, we just made six caps. And we’re all wearing them today.
Avoid management psychobabble
Stop telling us to repurpose our interface going forward.
Be flexible with hours
There are some jobs, like say professional sports, where it’s rather helpful if all employees perform their work simultaneously. Most jobs can afford a bit of give and take. If someone wants to come in early or leave late, trust them to get the work done.
Visit the shop floor
There is a reason Tony Abbott has a fluoro vest for every occasion. Just as the workers of Australia like to see their next leader among them, we also like to see the men and women in Mahogany Row dirty their shoes on the shop floor from time to time. We like it even more when they bugger off back upstairs, but still, an occasional visit is most welcome.
Give praise
We’re not talking about Employee of the Month awards or anything so lame, which really only serve to embarrass the monthly winner and make everyone else want to kill them. Good bosses find intelligent ways to praise staff for their good work. They also…
Give constructive criticism when required
Somewhere in our fragile easily-offended little lives, it became a major faux pas to take people to task if their work is ho-hum or plain lousy. A boss with the guts and nous to show people how to do their job better is a boss the vast majority of employees will respect. And maybe even like.
What about you guys? Ever been given a massive unexpected bonus at work? What else do you think good bosses should do?
http://www.thepunch.com.au
Just occasionally, a boss should email staff at 5pm and say don’t bother coming in tomorrow, everybody. At the very least, they should take slack days like Melbourne Cup Day (which isn’t a public holiday outside Victoria), ditch the facade of working for half a day, stick a bookie and a bar in the corner and tell everyone to go crazy.
Cut a little slack
Some days, you’re just not on fire. A London company one Puncher worked for had a policy that if you were hungover or out of sorts, you wore a cap that meant “don’t talk to me”. That way, people tend to save sickies for genuine sick days. This could obviously backfire and humiliate the cap wearer. But we think it’s a good idea. In fact, we just made six caps. And we’re all wearing them today.
Avoid management psychobabble
Stop telling us to repurpose our interface going forward.
Be flexible with hours
There are some jobs, like say professional sports, where it’s rather helpful if all employees perform their work simultaneously. Most jobs can afford a bit of give and take. If someone wants to come in early or leave late, trust them to get the work done.
Visit the shop floor
There is a reason Tony Abbott has a fluoro vest for every occasion. Just as the workers of Australia like to see their next leader among them, we also like to see the men and women in Mahogany Row dirty their shoes on the shop floor from time to time. We like it even more when they bugger off back upstairs, but still, an occasional visit is most welcome.
Give praise
We’re not talking about Employee of the Month awards or anything so lame, which really only serve to embarrass the monthly winner and make everyone else want to kill them. Good bosses find intelligent ways to praise staff for their good work. They also…
Give constructive criticism when required
Somewhere in our fragile easily-offended little lives, it became a major faux pas to take people to task if their work is ho-hum or plain lousy. A boss with the guts and nous to show people how to do their job better is a boss the vast majority of employees will respect. And maybe even like.
What about you guys? Ever been given a massive unexpected bonus at work? What else do you think good bosses should do?
http://www.thepunch.com.au
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