If you want to find out what's going on in your company just listen carefully what kind of nicknames are used by your employees for the managers. It will tell you a lot about the state of your company and whether your out look is promising.

Often the interesting jobs are personally done by the boss while the more boring tasks are delegated. Once the job is done and the result is great the merit of course goes directly to the boss, if not others will be hold responsible.

Employees telling their bosses their opinion are often labeled as "troublemakers". Those getting sick are often label as "lazy" or having personal problems. Never ever it is the environment at work or the disastrous leadership skills of the managers (If you ask the employees exactly those issues are mentioned as the main causes for their sickness or discontent).

If you look at those companies (especially large corporations) being in deep trouble and you analyze what led to such a catastrophe it almost always boils down to terrible decision making by the upper management. And yet the employees are paying the bill by being laid off or outsourced or at least suffering severe pay-cuts.

All kinds of reasons are told by management: It was the bad performance of the market, or the general development of the economy, or mistakes made by the employees, or the taxes, or, or, or...but it was never the management. Hello? Who is in command of this ship? Who is determining the course to take? Who is supposed to lead the company by leading the employees?

Management and employees, they just can't team up and work together for the better of all involved it seems, and their mindsets are worlds apart. In the end both are sitting in the same trap making each others lives miserable.

Interesting enough most managers and self-proclaimed leaders don't realize that nothing goes without their employees. They are the ones carrying out the strategies; they are the ones bridging the gap between the ivory tower and the customers. They are providing advice to the customer, manufacturing the products and in the end being the face of the company determining the image. And all they get back is that they are just a "cost-factor".

Leaders and managers should just walk around and watch closely what's going on n the offices and hallways. They will notice that as soon as they appear the small talk stops, laughter is gone and so is motivation. Those talking at the phone quickly finish their conversation, others surfing the internet immediately open working document, because they don't want to be in any problem or even be fired.

Is this a healthy climate for success and prosperity for the company? I don't think so.

As a side note: In those companies where employees are encouraged to participate and have an opinion, where nobody is checking by the minute the breaks taken and nobody criticizes employees for some private small talk, success is achieved must faster and at a lower cost. It's called the power of mutual trust. Why the Human Resources departments are called "Human Resources"? Because your employees are a resource, your employees are your capital of the future! Now, how do you treat your capital?

...to be continued...

Walter H. Groth
Institute for Life and Career Transition