The Benefits of Having a Good Boss - Essay Example

The Benefits of Having a Good Boss The success of an organization greatly depends on the boss. An organization that keeps a bad boss is likely to have employees who are unhappy and discontent. In contrast, an organization with a good boss will have happy and productive employees. A good boss increases productivity and promotes healthy working relationship while a bad boss hampers the growth of a company. The two kinds of boss are similar in terms of their professional roles in an organization. Both have people working under them, possess power over others, work towards the success of the company, and implement rules of the company. In an organization, employees look up to their bosses and make them the role model. Serving as role models, bosses should possess admirable qualities that others may imitate. In particular, the boss should behave according to the mission and goals of the company. He should have ideal professional qualities and imbibe the principles of goodwill, justice, and honesty in his profession. However, personal qualities are as important as professional ones to promote good-working relationship with employees. According to Brusman (2), the way a boss treats people is what differentiates him from others. It is the aspect in which many bosses commit mistakes, thus it is one aspect that easily distinguishes a good boss from a bad one. Another aspect is decision-making strategy. As the superior, a boss holds the highest power in an organization but such power may be equally divided among employees if a boss wishes to. Furthermore, the life goals of a boss differentiate a good one from a bad one. Life goals include those accomplishments that a boss wants to attain for himself, his employees, and organization. Treating employees positively is one of the characteristics of a good boss. Positive treatment of employees may be challenging especially with the presence of tension and pressure from work. Deadlines, work quality, and other factors may affect the way a boss deals and treats his employees, thus they can serve as the real margin to distinguish a good boss from a bad one. Despite pressure, a good boss shows good examples that others imitate while a bad one acts in the dismay of his subordinates. A good boss is friendly and deals nicely with others. He is neither feared nor avoided. Rather, subordinates work freely in his presence. In the morning, employees wait for him to arrive and wish to see him in the meeting to discuss issues that need to be resolved. In contrast, a bad boss terrorizes his employees with his presence alone. Subordinates do not feel comfortable when he is around. They are alarmed by his presence, and sometimes pretend to be busy when the boss is around. Likewise, in a meeting, employees do not wish to see the boss, but they still attend because they are afraid of being scolded at. Moreover, employees talk behind the back of a bad boss. They make fun of him and draw funny caricatures, and laugh at his mistakes. In sum, the friendly boss causes a positive atmosphere in the office while the terror boss brings about a negative climate. Athough the bad boss may decrease cases of absenteeism due to the fear of employees to be reprimanded, he may in turn increase employee turnover because subordinates could have a hard time dealing with him. A good boss knows how to sympathize with others while a bad one does not care about others’ feelings. As a leader, a boss acts as the parent of the organization. Therefore, he should be concerned of all employees, eventhough they are not directly under them. As such, he should know show sympathy when they need it. Showing sympathy to others could be as simple as giving condolences to bereaved employees, sending get-well-soon cards, calling up employees to check why they are absent, and so on. Likewise, a good boss knows how to appreciate the efforts of his people. He says “thank you” for favors done for him, greets people on their birthdays, and celebrates birthdays with them. However, a bad boss lacks all the charisma of a good leader. A bad boss hates celebrations, does not pay attention to the needs of his employees, rather concentrates on what they can contribute to the success of the organization. In addition, he forgets about birthdays and does not even care if employees greet him on his own birthday. Another aspect that distinguishes a good boss from a bad boss is his decision-making strategy. In general, bosses are required to decide for the organization. In attempting to reach a practicable solution to a problem, bosses usually rely on their subordinates to give suggestions. However, not all bosses would accept the suggestions of their subordinates. As such, the decision-making strategy that the boss employs could distinguish a good boss from a bad one. A good boss makes decisions that would benefit the majority while a bad one makes decisions for the benefit alone of the organization or himself. Most decisions require the expertise of a boss to benefit the majority. However, there are bosses who make decisions to protect their position. For example, in deciding how to cut costs of an organization, a bad boss who is expecting an annual bonus could decide to just lay off employees to cover for the sum he expects to receive by the end of the year. In contrast, a good boss would consider postponing the bonus to prevent the lay off. Thus, a good boss does not only think of himself but for the majority of his people. Moreover, a good boss consults his subordinates when making decisions that could affect them. A good boss calls for a meeting to discuss issues concerning employees. He provides them a picture of the circumstances facing employees and the organization and asks their opinion in a meeting. Sometimes, he holds elections to transparently see what the majority likes and he respects the decision. However, a bad boss may insist on his own opinion and avoid discussing issues. He hides decision-making processes from subordinates and just informs them if a final decision has been made. If he should discuss issues in meetings, a bad boss would give a chance to others, saying, “Let me hear what you’ve got to say…” Later, he would emphasize on the benefits of his idea and at the end convince others to agree with him. In worst case scenario, the bad boss negotiates with a trusted subordinate to agree with his opinion, thus jeopardizing the whole scenario of meeting a concensus. In other cases, a bad boss asks for suggestions and claims he has the same idea, uttering, “that’s exactly what I’m saying!” The third aspect that distinguishes a good boss from a bad one is his life goals. The goal in life of a person is usually to satisfy himself. According to Maslow (Cliffnotes.com), human beings act to satisfy their needs. Therefore, bosses can be expected to satisfy themselves physically , emotionally, and socially. However, some people are content with physical satisfaction. If this is the case, a boss would think only of material satisfaction, and not strive to act in fulfilment of a higher life goal such as giving inspiration to others or providing good life to employees. A good boss works for the growth of his employees while a bad one is concerned only of how he and the organization could be wealthier. Striving for the benefit of his employees, a good boss provides trainings to make employees grow professionally and realize their capabilities. Trainings are important to sharpen the skills of employees and keep them abresast of the recent trends in their field. Sending employees to trainings also makes them feel their importance to the organization. Hassan (29) conducted a survey to find out the impact of training on employees. He found out that people see trainings as a benefit given by the company, thus respondents became more motivated when sent to training. Therefore, sending employees to training can be considered an investment. If a good boss sees training as an important move to invest on employees, a bad boss sees it as a means to for his subordinates to get ahead of him. Thus, he would not send employees to training, especially those whom he thinks are a threat to his position. A bad boss is insecure; he would always secure his position and power. He will not let subordinates outdo his capability. Furthermore, a good boss rewards people for good work done while a bad boss shows discontent despite the employees’ best efforts. A good boss gives rewards, either monetary or nonmonetary, to those who have done good. Rewards help to make employees feel their worth in an organization. Therefore, not giving rewards to employees could mean unappreciating their efforts. If such happens in an organization, employees will try to find other bosses or companies that could compensate their efforts. However, if a boss will make it his goal to serve others and strive to improve their lives, he will promote the improvement of each of his employees and make them the best of what they can be. The characteristics of a good boss sum up to success for everyone, including employees, himself and the whole organization. A good boss champions his employees by appreciating their efforts, giving sympathy to them, respecting their opinions, treating them with importance, and cultivating their knowledge and skills. In contrast, a bad boss is more concerned about his gains, thus protects his position and uses it to make his subordinates feel his power over them. As a bad boss continues to hold on to his power, he leaves behind the goals of the organization and serves his selfish intentions. In time, his organization will go bankrupt as employees leave one by one to look for another organization that could value their talents. If every boss will strive to possess the characteristics of a good boss, people will be content with their jobs and perform their best, making the nation progressive. Therefore, in order to ensure success, every organization should have a good boss who is worthy of people’s respect and trust. Works Cited Hassan, Rashid. “Impact of Training and Development on Employees’ Performance.” N.d. Unpublished Thesis. “Motivational Theories: Individual Needs.” N.d. Cliffnotes.com. Web. Read More