Brigette Hyacinth recalls her first boss, who was an inspiration and great to work with — and the second one that led to her resignation.
My first boss was the best.
I had a family emergency. Before I could finish explaining the situation to him he said: “Why are still standing here talking to me? I’ll cover for you.”
I smiled then went to my desk, took my belongings and left. Thereafter, he had my full commitment.
Joseph was a good boss and I would have worked for him in any organisation.
Good bosses can make work meaningful and interesting even in a bad workplace.
They make work feel like a home away from home.
However, a bad boss can make your work life miserable.
They will micromanage you, blame you, and do everything to hold you back.
Joseph was a people builder.
Words such as: “Good work team”; “you are the best”; “I trust your judgement” were at the top of his dictionary.
He empowered, appreciated and trusted employees to get the work done. Team spirit was high during his reign.
Sadly, his approach of putting people first did not sit well with top management and within a year he was moved.
Our new boss was quite the opposite.
I felt like I had to be constantly looking over my shoulder.
His sole focus was on the bottom line and he was always pointing fingers.
He was more concerned about pushing his weight around than building relationships.
Employee engagement and morale fell to an all-time low.
It’s demotivating working for a manager who does not stand up for their team.
If you make a mistake they quickly turn into judge, jury and executioner.
I liked my job but I could not function effectively in such an environment, so I decided it was time to hand in my resignation.
A truly great boss is hard to find, difficult to part with, and impossible to forget.
Most of the time an employee has an issue with an organisation, it has to do with something related to their boss.
At the heart of the breakdown of the manager-employee relationship, lies a lack of trust, respect and empathy.
When you go beyond the call of duty for your employer, and they respond with insensitivity and inflexibility during your time of need, the relationship is lost.
Employees yearn for good bosses.
A recent study found that 65 per cent of employees would rather have a better boss than a salary increase.
There is nothing like having a boss who has your back.
They make your working experience so much better.
Employees spend over half of their lives at work, so they want to work in a healthy environment with a boss who looks out for them.
It’s time that organisations realise that all the money and perks will not retain good staff if they have a bad boss.
A good boss is without a doubt, one of the best incentives to keeping staff, happy and engaged.
*Brigette Hyacinth founded the MBA Caribbean Organisation which conducts seminars and workshops in leadership, management and education as well as providing motivational speeches. She can be contacted at www.mbacaribbean.org.
This article first appeared on Brigette’s blogsite
