As a busy, overworked employer, it is easy to take employees for granted. If you’re having a terrible day, you might never dream of snapping at a customer. In fact, no matter how difficult that customer is, you probably paste on a smile and are extra polite. However, what happens when that customer finally leaves the building and your employee does anything in a less than perfect manner?
When I was attending college, I had a part time job with a boss who treated employees so badly that he was practically a legend. That little company had an incredibly high employee turnover because anytime he was frustrated about his business or his customers, the boss would take it out on his employees. The sad thing is, we all really loved the business and were devoted to the customers and hated to leave. He would have had a very low employee turnover if he just treated his employees like human beings.
The next time you’re having a rough day, count to ten before you speak to employees. You may find that you were over-reacting and the employee in question didn’t actually do anything wrong. To relieve your stress and frustration, try squeezing a stress ball, leaving the building for lunch or putting a tread mill or exercise bike in the office instead of snapping at your employees.
Originally posted on May 16, 2006 @ 3:36 pm