Why employees are like children. (Legal Watch).

Scholz, Bernarid Stewart

In my work in employment law (and as a mother of two small children) I am often struck by a recurring thought -- employees and children have an awful lot in common. And because they have so much in common, the same skills that make people effective as parents are often the skills that make for effective managers.

When I'm conducting training sessions with managers I sometimes ask them to discuss this issue. It is with much joking and laughter that the comparisons abound (my favourite answer: "managing employees makes us realize why we don't want kids"!)

This article takes a light hearted look at the similarities and differences between employees and children. Naturally, this comparison is not intended to condescend or belittle employees. They are wonderful people and without them businesses would not thrive and succeed. And all of us--managers, owners and employees alike will recognize ourselves in this article since no one ever really grows up. So view this as it is--a tongue in cheek look at managing employees.

The Similarities

That's Not Fair!

Like many families, we had a rule in our house -- one child cuts the cake and the other one picks the piece they get to eat. It prevented some nasty little battles over who got the biggest piece of cake and reduced the number of times my parents had to hear us shout "that's not fair!" (actually, I think I was the one who shouted that one the most).

Employees want the same sized piece of cake too...They watch each other carefully to see who's getting more time off, who slacks off more, who is the favourite... It never ends.

They Need Firm Rules and Will Test Them All the Time

Most people like rules. They like the certainty and order rules give to their working lives. But of course, like children, employees will test the rules. And some will ignore rules altogether (you know the type -- they don't think rules apply to them).

Another comment I received when I asked managers to make this comparison is that employees, like children, often need help learning how to dress themselves. We are all too familiar with this one: the employee who is perpetually dressed like a slob, or wanders around with stains on his shirt or obviously forgets to look in the mirror before leaving.