Are you meeting your employees expectations as a boss?

Strong leadership qualities…. Appreciation….. Empathy…. Trust….

Different employees expect different things from their bosses. Some of them appreciate when a boss drops by after every 2 hours with a “How are the things going?”. While others like to work with minimum interference from their bosses.

“What do employees expect from their bosses?” This is a million-dollar question that all bosses and leaders are seeking an answer for.

The mystery has been solved. Employees don’t just look for one specific thing in a boss. They look, in fact, they expect simple behavioral and organizational changes from their bosses.

Here are some expectations that employees have of their bosses:

Strong leadership and clear vision

Employees are drawn towards a boss who is 100 percent clear of what he wants. Someone who has a strong sense of leadership. Someone who has a clear vision to turn ideas into a reality. They are ones who actually do what they say. This is why employees trust and follow them willingly.

On the contrary, if you are someone who likes to give orders and does not have a sense of self then I’m afraid you might not live up to expectations of employees.

A boss is the captain of the ship. Employees expect him to have a clear understanding of roles, responsibilities, and objectives. When a boss has a clear vision of the company’s future only then he can steer the ship competently.

Recognition for their work

According to a survey by Terry Bacon published in his book What people want, 74% of US employees want their bosses to appreciate them for who they are and what they do.

Employees feel better and consequently perform better when they are appreciated for their work. I still remember, when I started out with my coding job, how a simple ‘Good job’ from my boss would make me happy by leaps and bounds.

After 12 years later, when I’m leading ProofHub, we take a moment to appreciate and honor star performers at every department by organizing ‘Rewards and Recognition’ session every quarter. Always remember, a person who feels appreciated will always do more than what is expected of him.

Respect

It’s human tendency to yearn for mutual respect from others. We have a keen desire to be loved and respected for who we are and what we do. Sadly, 84% of US employees don’t feel that they are respected enough by their bosses.

Most of the times bosses think that their job is to give orders and get work done. While doing so, they might appear rude or condescending to juniors. Everything else can be taken care of but no employee would like to trade his respect for anything in return.

If you want to be seen as a respectable boss, give employees the respect they deserve.

Don’t forget that leadership is not about who’s boss or who’s in charge, it’s about who gains respect from others.

No micromanaging

One thing that employees hate the most is to have a micromanaging boss. No one likes it when your boss is hovering over your head after every 10 minutes.

If you want to be in the good books of your employees, stop micromanaging and start delegating. Learn the art of delegation. When you delegate work to employees and give them autonomy, you will see them blooming into responsible and accountable employees.

In essence, learning to delegate instead of micromanaging is the way to gain the trust of employees and thrive in that environment.

Fair play

Employees, especially the younger workforce, wants transparency and fair play at work. These days employees are highly competitive and growth-oriented. They are hundred percent sure of their abilities and want to be analyzed fairly for their performance at the workplace.

Many employees think that their bosses are not fair and don’t hold everyone to the same standards. Bias or favoritism of any kind won’t encourage employees to play their A game and will leave your employees hating you for a good reason.

It’s time to look within and observe if your words or actions, in any way, form a bias towards certain employees or not.

Flexibility

In addition to deciding how they work, employees also appreciate when they have a say over the number of hours they work for. Millennials are looking for a synergy between their personal and professional lives. With the increasing hullabaloo for remote workplace, employees are not afraid to take up jobs that goes against the conventional 9-5 office culture.

Bosses should not hesitate to set up a radically flexible work culture for employees who wish to work remotely. As a boss, the only thing that you need to take care of is to show trust and confidence in their abilities.

I’ve had the pleasure to work with an incredible boss who taught me to be passionate about work and strive to do the best work possible. Inspire others and be inspired by them. He taught me the need to balance professional and personal lives and building a routine of appreciating employees at a regular basis.

All of these expectations may seem obvious, but I would challenge you to demonstrate these qualities at work and be a boss who is loved by his employees.

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About Author:

Sandeep Kashyap is the Founder of ProofHub - a leading project management and collaboration software. A passionate leader, Sandeep is always on the lookout for innovative ideas about filling the communication gap between groups, teams and companies. He is also a featured writer on LinkedIn and contributing author at YourStory. You can connect with him on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

Also follow our company page @ProofHub to get the recent updates about our tool, published articles, motivational quotes & presentations.

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