THE 5 HABITS OF A RESPECTED MANAGER

A respected manager is more than a manager who is ‘good’ at their job, especially if your idea of good is?just?smart, business-minded, and organised. To be a good manager is to think about your employees.?

This means it’s important to not be ignorant of the reality of the majority of working professionals – they’re disengaged… 87% of them are to be precise (Gallup ).?

This could be down to their work not being stimulating enough, or the fact that there aren’t good enough benefits and perks, but most engaged employees will tell you there is one thing keeping them engaged and keeping them from looking elsewhere – their manager.

Those managers are respected by their team, have trusted relationships, and create an engaging environment. How? Keep reading.

THEY GET INVOLVED

The first step that any respected manager takes is getting involved and not being a distant, unapproachable figure. This means attending socials, going to lunches, and actually getting among your employees and having general conversations.

A common misconception many managers have is that respect equals mystery. The more distant you are from your employees, the more important you’ll seem. And this is true to an extent. You will look important but you will also look unapproachable and unhelpful.

Managers have to uphold a high standard of professionalism of course because they don’t just have a higher standard, but they want to set a high example, but professionalism doesn’t mean a lack of humanity.?

Respected managers get involved and let their employees know through their actions that they value them and want to build a trusted relationship with them.

THEY GIVE CREDIT WHEN CREDIT IS DUE?

Don’t be that manager who takes credit for everything, never thanks people, and never acknowledges hard work.?

A manager's job is to use their successes to help their employees be successful, which means their job is to intentionally recognise accomplishments.

Zippia ?reports that 80% of employees say they’re motivated to work harder when they’re recognised for their work by their superiors.?

And it doesn’t end there. When you have the mindset of appreciating others, the culture of your team will be a culture that collaborates, is innovative , and supports one another . You’ll realise that each person has different strengths which helps you manage your workload because you’re not micromanaging everything.?

This will help you to be respected so much more because you’re humility allows you to appreciate others, identify strengths, and accept help.

THEY ARE COMMITTED TO SEEING THEIR EMPLOYEES DEVELOP?

As a manager, you wear many hats. You have lots of responsibility and many people to please. And whilst those things need to be considered and given time, if you get to a point where you disregard your responsibility to support your employees in their development, you’re going to make it impossible for yourself to create respected and trusted relationships.

Being committed to employee development means:

• Making time for 1-1s
• Giving feedback and constructive criticism
• Encouraging employees to ask for additional training

What happens with a lot of managers is that they promise that they are there to support employees but rarely follow through. Build respect with your employees by practising what you preach and making time for them. When you don’t, employees don’t feel respected, meaning the respect they have for you will diminish.?

Just because you’re the ‘leader’, doesn’t mean people will automatically respect you, it’s something you need to be gained. Employees can do as you say without respecting you, but they certainly can’t trust you, nor will they go above and beyond for a manager they don’t respect.

THEY EXPECT HARD WORK BUT THEY ALSO EXPECT WORK-LIFE BALANCE

As a manager, you have to set the bar high when it comes to productivity, work quality, and targets… but those bars also have to be attainable.?

The very managers who make their employees put work before their personal lives, their mental and physical health, and their rest are the very managers who struggle with high turnover, high absenteeism along low productivity and engagement.?

If you want to be respected, you need to extend respect first. And employees don’t just feel respected when you appreciate them as an employee, they feel respected when you appreciate them as a person. A person who needs a healthy work-life balance in order to perform to the highest standards.

THEY EXPECT INNOVATION

Many employees feel like every day is the same. There’s no variation to their role because there’s no room for innovation. The path of ‘what works’ has already been set for them and now their job is to just follow it to a T.

As a manager, you need to encourage your employees to think outside the box and make them feel comfortable coming to you with ideas. Most avoid this because creativity takes away control… but sometimes you need to take away a bit of control.

As stated many times throughout this blog, respect goes both ways and a large part of respect is about trust. If you want to be trusted, you need to extend trust. When you always make your employees play it safe, they’ll start to feel that you don’t believe they can make an impact. But if you allow them to be innovative and take (some) risks, you’re giving them authority over their work and giving them support along the way. Good leaders create good leaders and it will become noticeable if you don’t encourage your employees to take leaps and try new things.

By encouraging innovation, you won’t just be a respected leader, but you’ll be an inspiring one that makes employees feel excited about work, excited about their projects, and excited about progression.

- Written by Oliver Howson