Chapter three was interesting for me because I am able to relate to the topics covered. I worked in retail most of my life and so naturally found myself in a management role at a high volume store. When you’re in charge of a team, your whole outlook on retail and the dynamic of a store, changes.
The Hawthorne Studies, was particularly interesting because I, too myself have wondered how I can make my team more productive. The findings that workers are more productive when they are paid more attention, actually strikes me as a no-brainer. Firstly, of course employees will be more productive when their boss is watching them. Sure, some may enjoy that attention — feeling like your manager really cares and is there as part of the team. However, the most of those employees are only seemingly more productive because they feel watched and pressured.
I do agree that employees perform better when they are paid more attention in the form of recognition. If management doesn’t bother to check in or monitor work (including those who excel), why would anyone try?
As a retail store manager for years, I know first-hand about the struggle to be friendly with your staff but not too much that you’re seen more as a friend than a manager. The chart in this chapter outlined the different management styles and I definitely find that putting employee wellbeing at the forefront without sacrificing production, is the best way to run a staff but it’s also the hardest to accomplish.
When I first became a manager, I was promoted from within so I had already formed friendships with my coworkers whom I was not the boss of. That made it hard to flip the friend switch and tell them what to do and when. I tried to be buddies with the staff but found that they take me less seriously and thusly, what I say less seriously. It took an overhaul of me finding it in me to put my foot down and establish a line between friendship and work. Clock out and we can be friends, clock in and I’m the boss and we work as a team to get things done.
Overall, I related much more to this chapter due to my first hand experiences with the topics.
