Being a leader is something most employees are aspiring to be. It’s a goal for most that they have to attain. This also makes people stay in a company. Their hope for their careers to prosper in a company keeps them striving to achieve this goal. However, being a leader can give an employee some tasks that are challenging.
From reporting to your boss to defending your team, it’s really a hard task to be a leader. But there’s one thing that makes the position more difficult. It’s dealing with your subordinates. Managing a team can really be exhausting especially if there are members who learn the slowest.
But you can’t show your disappointment with these team members. You also can’t point out to them that others are doing better. Any indication of bias can lead to accusations of favoritism. That’s what most leaders are trying to avoid.
So if you have a business or if you’re leading a team, how can you maintain fair treatment among your employees or subordinates? Here are some tips that you can follow.
Avoid nepotism
Nepotism is the act of favoring relatives or friends in various fields. Companies are trying to reduce the instance of hiring employees who have blood relationships with the leaders. However, some might still slip. Its prevalence is universal and that makes it feel acceptable even if it’s not.
This can lead to cronyism if not prevented. So if you’re a leader working for a company, this is something that you should avoid. Favoring your friends or family members will only make it hard for others to be treated fairly. If other employees under your belt notice this, it can result in a reduction of their morale.
These people are surely working as hard as the one you’re favoring. Seeing their efforts go to waste can only lead to decreased productivity. The same goes for hiring a friend or a relative to work for your business. This can also result in unintentional favoritism. Avoid hiring someone you’re very close with if you have a business. Do this especially if they’ll be working with other employees. That’s not going to be a good look for you.
Transparency
If you have information that you think everyone should know, say it to all team members. Don’t let anyone be left out of the conversation. Say the management has come up with an incentive program. Make sure that this message would be delivered across all your team members. Not only to those you think would be able to achieve the goal. If the team is failing, let all your subordinates know and not just those who are causing the ship to sink.
Otherwise, you’re just making the situation worse by not holding everyone accountable. A team member should somehow be responsible for their fellow team member’s actions. That’s how you can exhibit transparency within the group.
Efficient recruitment
Underperformers can make other employees who are better than them shine effortlessly. This can cause you to either focus on the outliers and make them perform better at work, or focus on the better ones since you’d think the underperformers would just give you headaches.
Those two actions are already exhibiting bias but there’s something that can be done to avoid that. If all applicants went through efficient recruitment, you’ll be able to have the best employees. From their onboarding down to training, everything should be executed properly.
This way, these employees will be taught all the essential knowledge before their nesting period. That’s how efficient employees are made. This can prevent you from actually playing favorites since most or all of them were trained well.
Good working relations
Being kind and considerate to your team members can promote good working relations. That’s one of the most important aspects of work culture. And you’re not supposed to be considerate only to those who know how to meet your expectations. You can also establish a harmonious working relationship with the outliers. This can make them feel more comfortable working with you on improving their performance. That’s important so they won’t feel like you’re pointing fingers at them.
Giving chances to all
Fair treatment to all employees or subordinates also means equal opportunity for each of them. You have to show everyone that you’re willing to work with them. That can also make them feel that they all have a shot at promotion. Unfair assessment on promotion is one of the most common reasons why employees leave their jobs. Avoid this scenario by commending your best team members and coaching the underperformers. They’ll appreciate all efforts in recognizing their hard work and pointing out their areas of opportunity.
Treating team members fairly can promote a healthy work environment. Maintaining this can also help team members to have a sound mind and working conditions. Fair treatment among employees and team members should be a basic principle of every employer. That’s with or without anybody watching.