How to Be a Good Boss

Managers are supposed to hire new employees, reprimand first-time violators and fire incompetent staff. However, due to the modernized laws and policies of the state, managers could actually be sued for doing these classic tasks. If you want to keep your job and avoid being victimized by petty legal complaints, take action.

Start by being a good boss. If you don't want to get lawsuits from firing employees, make an effort to actually stop the reasons for termination. Attend to their needs as laborers and be as kind and firm as possible. With this, you won't have reasons not to fire employees who stay unskilled despite the good managerial treatment. Here are the basic ways to handle employees efficiently.

1. Set realistic, specific and time-bounded expectations. Make it clear to all the members of your team what they are supposed to accomplish for the time being. With this, they will have a clear view of what you want to see and you will have concrete measure for evaluating their performance.

2. Communicate on the same ground. If you want to address some of your commands, make all your instructions clear. In this way, your employees will get the right message and you will avoid getting upset from incongruent outcomes.

3. As a manager, it is your job to observe and comment on your members' works. If you found something commendable or loathsome, make a remark at once. It is good to make it while the action is fresh so you'll not forget. Employees actually change their bad behavior if their bosses told them to do so.

4. Assess your employee's capabilities. Before you give out orders to specific personnel, make sure that they can handle it. Understand their needs and give added trainings if necessary. You don't have the right to scold them if they are really not suitable for the task in the first place.

5. Documentation can go long way. Whenever you encounter employee dissatisfaction, write them down and have a reference for whatever you decide in the future. Here are the things that must be included in your records:

(a) Employees who have the ability to do an assigned task but is unwilling to cooperate.

(b) Behavior of potential employees to be dismissed; be as specific as possible so you have a lot of backup when you are required to explain a termination decision. Sometimes, involved parties can be too demanding in protecting their positions, hence, difficult questioning.

(c) Make your documentations objective. This means that you include only the facts---what the senses can perceive. Ditch opinions and adjectives as they are your biased ideas.

(d) Make your notes fresh. Don't allow 24 hours to pass you by before jotting an observation in your files. This will aid you in writing down the truest information since the scene has just happened.

(e) Know the 101 on office incidents. Who did what; when; where; how. These are important information that must be included so you could keep the credibility of your documentation

(f) Standardize your documentation notebook. Make the same tables or charts so you enter writings in the same manner all the time. It will keep your notes organized and easy to remember.