Why do my employee’s dislike me?

Your role as a manager and an employer is not to be liked by your employees. However, for your business to be successful, staff need to feel motivated, secure in their job and supported by managers. They may develop animosity and dislike for their employer if they feel this is lacking and this can have a detrimental effect on the business.

If you feel that your employees dislike you, it is worth looking objectively at how you manage your staff and evaluate where there may be issues. Identifying these issues and making changes may help you to resolve the animosity, and create a more successful workplace.

You might consider:

• How do you treat your staff? Are you respectful? Are you polite? Don’t underestimate how important it is to say please and thank you to your staff, to hold doors open for them or to simply say good morning when they come into the office. Treating them as human beings and not just paid employees is vital to developing positive relationships.
• Do you recognize good work and offer rewards? Do you give credit to the right people? If staff work hard, they deserve to be rewarded for doing so. If they feel that they are taken for granted, they may begin to develop animosity. Equally, they will quickly lose respect for you if you try and take the credit for their ideas or good work. Publically acknowledging and recognizing achievements help to build staff morale.
• Are the expectations of your staff fair and realistic? Staff who feel overworked are likely to harbour negative feelings. Ensure that the work they are being set can be completed within their working hours and allow them to leave work at work. Emailing them about work matters at 3 am will increase their stress levels and lead them to feel that you have little respect for their home/work balance.
• Are you consistent? Do you treat everyone fairly? Do you follow through on promises? Staff want to feel that they are all on an equal footing. If they feel that there is favouritism in the workplace, they are likely to feel very negatively towards you and the ‘favourite’. This, in turn, could create a great deal of tension within the workplace.
• Are you leading by example? Are you working the same hours as the staff? Do you use your time wisely or procrastinate during the day? If the staff feel that you are coasting and leaving them to do all the hard work, they will be less inclined to do any work themselves.

If you identify possible areas for development, why not involve the staff? Asking for anonymous feedback or ideas to move forward will show staff that you want to make changes for the better and that you value their opinions. This will create an excellent foundation to begin rebuilding relationships and fostering a more positive workplace for all.

If you feel that relationships with your staff could be improved and would like support in creating a better working environment for you and your team get in touch to discuss with one of our professional HR advisors.