Is It OK to Be Friends With Your Employees?
Take a minute to think about your group of friends. How many of them are current or former colleagues? I’m willing to bet the number is pretty high. This isn’t surprising. After all, statistics predict that we spend more than 30 percent of our lives at work. Many of our co-workers are bound to become our friends, and, in some cases, even our romantic partner.
It’s one thing to strike up a friendship with a business peer; it’s another thing when a potential friend is your subordinate. What is the line for business owners in becoming friends (we’ll leave dating out of this) with employees? Here are a few rules to live by.
Do: Start the day with questions
Every time you come into the office, stop by your employees’ desks to say hello. Depending on how busy you are that day, stay for three or four minutes to chat about the latest happenings in each of your lives. This simple action will show that you care about the wellbeing of your employees beyond their work roles. Ask about their favorite sports teams, their pets, their upcoming vacation plans. A good rule of thumb is to stick with topics you’d talk about at a networking event.
Don’t: Camp out at their desks
Talking with an employee for two hours about their latest relationship situation is not professional.
Do: Lend a hand
Employees who feel genuinely cared about are likely to work harder and be highly engaged in their jobs. Show that you care by noticing if your employee is struggling. If a worker needs to leave the office at 4 p.m. to tend to an ailing child or parent, let that person leave work early and then organize acceptable times for them to make up missed work.
Don’t: Overstep your bounds
It’s fine to ask if everything is OK when an employee looks down in the dumps, but if that person offers a short (or nondescript) response, let it be. You don’t want to be intrusive into their personal business when they don’t want to share.
Do: Control the conversation
You and your head of sales are massive fans of the San Francisco Giants baseball team. So, when Buster Posey is throwing a no-hitter in a playoff game and it happens to be 9:30 p.m. and you know your employee is freaking out as much as you are, is it OK to text that person to share in the excitement?
Yes, but be careful. Alcohol could be involved, so it is important to keep the conversation focused on baseball. The same goes with any one-on-one talk with an employee. Control the conversation in an aboveboard way and you should be good.
Don’t: Play favorites
This can be very easy to do, especially if you have a lot in common with one or two of your employees. Make an effort to engage in regular chatter with all of your employees. Favoritism can quickly cause feelings of jealously to spread throughout an office—something you want to avoid.
