Six Secrets of Blessed Bosses

Every successful manager on Earth is hiding something from you. These secrets have been passed on through generations of managers, bosses, and entrepreneurs everywhere. Want a slice of the pie? Read on.

Fairness is everything
Employees want to be treated fairly. They worry about whether or not they are underpaid or overworked and will compare payments with their friends regardless of company policies prohibiting such. Rather than prohibiting it, successful managers understand and embrace it (they do not encourage it, however).

To successfully embrace paycheck comparison, encourage employees to take up any issues with their payments with yourself, rather than gossiping with coworkers. Leaving it out of the company policy is a good idea, too, as this will merely give them ideas.

Sometimes, fairness is impossible
A good manager understands that sometimes, life will not be fair, and employees will have to work long, stressful hours at an underpaid rate. Rather than running themselves out of business, they learn to roll with this punch and reward their employees in other, non-monetary ways while still remaining ethical.

The government takes sides
The federal government and state governments mandate a minimum hourly wage at which an employee must be compensated for time. Unfortunately, even with recent increases, minimum wage is truly below the poverty line and it is unreasonable to expect many individuals to survive making it.

Good business owners know the government is on their side and they take steps to ensure they remain impartial during a trade-off of selfish and selfless. They know their employees will need to be compensated according to how well they work. They also know they have the advantage in many disagreements, due to the power they hold by being a boss and being a business. They never get drunk with this power.

Employees are most important
Employees are literally the life of your company and upsetting them is not a good idea. The opinions and morale of your employees are two very important things to monitor, as this could mean the difference between sinking and swimming as a company.

Revenue is important
While keeping employees happy and motivated is important, they also rely on you to keep them employed. Making pay adjustments according to productivity is a great way to boost morale, but there is a line that should not be crossed. If you will be risking losing your business by giving employees raises, this should not be done. They will be far happier working for another six months at the same rate than they would be ending up in the unemployment line.

Appearances matter
A good manager knows that keeping employees happy is important not only for their productivity, but also for the fact that one bad apple spoils the bunch. In this age of technology, the Internet is a quick way for your company's reputation to slide downhill in the event of a disgruntled current or former employee sharing dirty little secrets. Always fire gracefully and keep yourself proper, or you may lose everything.

While these are the best-known secrets, there are many others waiting to be discovered. Will you happen upon one someday while handling your relations? What have you learned about management over the course of your career?