Management can be difficult. As you have read from my previous posts the most important resource of any business is its employees. If a manager is unable to effectively communicate and utilize their employees, he or she will not be managing for very long.

Leverage is a principle often utilized to discuss financial debt in the world of business. Financial institutions and businesses can utilize debt to take on more risks in the hopes of increasing revenue and profit margin. In that same respect the employee and manager utilize forms of “workplace leverage” to ensure status and influence within the organization. Both the manager and employee use various levers to elicit a response.

The manager’s “work place levers” 

1. Hire versus Fire to influence employee behavior and decisions
2. Praise versus Write Ups to influence employee behavior and decisions
3. The power to increase salary and dole out bonuses to influence employee behavior and decisions
4. Positive evaluation versus Negative Evaluations of employees to influence employee behavior and decisions
5. Internal politics with ownership and co-workers to maintain status and position while influencing employee behavior and decisions

The employee’s “work place levers”   

1. Underutilization versus over-utilization of sick and paid days off to effect management behavior
2. Gifts and Praise of management/co-workers to effect management behavior
3. Positive versus Negative Evaluations of management/co-workers to effect management behavior and decisions
4. Habitually early to work versus habitually tardy to work to effect management behavior and decisions
5. Internal politics with ownership and co-workers to maintain status and position to effect management behavior and decisions

I won’t delve to deep into the details of how these actions can be utilized by both the manager and employee; but briefly review each point. Consider the names and or faces of the people that you can associate with each variable. In short, both the manager and employee utilize forms of leverage to elicit responses.

As I’ve mentioned previously, people are as important as financial capital in maintaining a functional organization. For those in management; please take the time to consider these 10 key points to ensure a functional work environment.

1. Be upfront and honest about the role each person plays in maintaining a functional business.
2. Value the opinion of every member of the team, and actively demonstrate this by listening to their opinions and actively considering these opinions when creating changes within the organization.
3. Even in times of disagreement; work diligently to maintain a level of respect for that person
4. Focus on the value created for the shareholders when trying to create a unified vision between management and employee.
5. Focus on the quality of the product created for the consumption of your customer when trying to create a unified vision between management and employee.
6. At a minimum evaluate employees biannually; when evaluating always have a third person involved to witness. This reduces the possibility of arguments and misunderstandings.
7. Be respectful of the goals your employees have; most likely they do not want to be employees for life. And that is fine. Work with them on creating a 1 year, 5 year, and 10 year plan so that they don’t feel stuck in a rut.
8. Create rubrics to grade yourself and employees; this shows thoughtfulness and reduces bias when grading employees on their abilities.
9. During reviews, offer each employee a time to have a moment of reflection. Ask them, “do you have an issue with management, a co-worker, or the organization that needs to be resolved?”
10. Practice being able to discipline without bias; this practice helps maintain uniformity in the organization, and builds a level of trust for the employee in relation to management.

You will never be able to keep people completely happy. And following this plan will not eliminate every employee’s discontent. I still implore each manager to have a plan, and  stick with that plan during both the good and bad times. Work with diligence to ensure the employees you manage have enough space to consider their place and role in the organization.

We work and work till we are tired. The days and months will pass us by, and before we realize it our most important employees are desiring to leave the organization and often we don’t even see it coming.

Please review my 10 key points; by reviewing these points I hope that you’re able to improve employee satisfaction. It is important that managers ensure that an employee’s concerns are heard. There should be open lines of communication in all phases of hierarchy; ownership–>management—>employee. Communication is paramount to ensuring business success.

A company can quickly collapse under the duress of organizational stress. To prevent this collapse managers must pride themselves on using “workplace levers” in an appropriate manner to maintain balanced scales of power in these “workplace courtrooms” that house office politics in every business and industry.

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Sam Blakemore is the Pharmacy Manager of Peds Rx Pharmacy Solutions. Connect with him via: LinkedIn