7 Reasons a Boss Should Never be Friends with His Employees
A boss and an employee can never be friends; it’s an ultimate truth and has been backed by many renowned human resource professionals. If you think your boss is your friend, then you are sadly mistaken. There is no substantial weight in boss-employee friendship as both are poles apart. As said by Leland Stanford “The employee is regarded by the employer merely in the light of his value as an operative. His productive capacity alone is taken into account”. So, in a nutshell, as long as an employee is efficient, he will be praised by his boss; beyond that, there is void.
To maintain a healthy ambiance at the workplace, a boss must never become a friend to his employees. Such friendships may prove fatal to the company and in turn, repercussions will have to be borne by all employees and leaders. Here are seven reasons as to why a boss should never be friends with his employees:
1. It May affect the Morale of Other Employees
If an employee and a boss become friends, the sense of favoritism automatically triggers in the boss’s mind towards that employee which may lead to incorrect decisions. The other employees will develop grudges for the boss and his favored employee which may affect overall productivity.
2. Employee May Take Advantage of Boss’s Friendship and Vice-versa
Friendship is a special bonding between two people. It’s a mutual understanding. But it can be misused by an employee as a means to get away with unacceptable things. Even a boss may emotionally blackmail his friend employee to do the task that’s not in his domain or is not ethical. Employees, beware of your boss’s friendship; and boss, beware of your employee friend.
3. Employees May not Take the Boss Seriously
Friendship brings out a casual behavior among people. A boss has the risk of losing his credibility if he becomes a friend of his employees. His decisions may not be taken seriously. A boss needs to exude certain authority and friendship may hamper that. To maintain the decorum and discipline at the office, it's essential that a boss and an employee must never cross the thin line of friendship.
4. Friendship May Come in the Way of Tough Decisions
What if a boss X is advised by his boss Y to fire an employee who happens to be boss X’s friend? Will boss X be able to do it? The answer is No. It’s not easy to fire a friend and even if the boss does it, it will definitely ruin the so-called friendship. Often the boss has to take tough decisions involving employees for the sake of company. All the bosses out there, do not make it difficult for self by becoming employee’s friend.
5. A Boss May Share Information Which He must not
There are many confidential subjects in a company which a boss must never share with his employees. When the two become friends, there are chances that a boss may slip out official or personal information that should have remained locked in his mind.
6. It May Challenge Friendship as well as the Boss-employee Relationship
Differences of any sort do not exist in friendship. But a boss cannot ignore the gap between him and his employee. A boss usually dictates terms to employees even if it is done in a polite manner and that’s not going to let friendship survive.
7. Honest Feedback from Boss may Get Affected
A boss needs to be critical with employees in assigning tasks and providing feedback too. A friend boss may sugarcoat the feedback.
The friendship between a boss and an employee is a myth!
