You’ve probably read that you need to get to know your employees on a personal level in order to effectively manage them. It’s true, when people feel values as individuals, they tend to engage more and do better work. However, where do you draw the line? How much should you get involved in the personal lives of your employees. Whether it’s celebration or drama, how much is too much? Here are some general guidelines to help you have healthy boundaries.
Don’t Act as a Therapist
It’s important that you set clear and healthy boundaries for everyone. It’s easy to slip into the role of caretaker when one of your employees is in emotional distress but be careful not to cross the line into therapist territory.
It isn’t healthy for you to bear someone else’s burden, but it also isn’t great for them. You shouldn’t be providing advice without the training that it takes to become a therapist. Instead, suggest they see a professional while offering them your empathy.
Don’t Cause Additional Stress
It’s also easy for managers to fall into a more apathetic role. You don’t mean to be cold, but you don’t want to get to personal and you want to ensure that work gets done. Don’t begin to micromanage an employee experiencing personal drama.
If they need some time to sort out the issues, make sure you can provide the right support in the right way.
Provide Additional Resources
As much as you can, try to provide additional resources that can help an employee in distress. Perhaps you can offer additional time off to them as they sort out what they need. Maybe your company can offer access to professionals who can assist.
There may also be resources for specific issues if they’re identified. Perhaps the issue is grief, counseling may be a good solution. Or maybe they need help with a child, so provide access to other resources.
Be Compassionate
Throughout it all, do what you can to be compassionate. It will go along way to showing your team members, those affected and those observing, that you truly care about them as individuals, not just cogs in the machine.
Compassion, much like gratitude, is contagious. It can spread throughout the workplace, so everyone knows they’re valued.
Do you want to know how to manage your employees during a crisis? Contact the team at Hutco to learn more today.