It is normal for people to want to defend themselves when presented with potentially negative feedback, though managers have to find a way to inform employees when they need to change their performance or behavior.   Most employees want to improve and though don’t like hearing it, are open to moving forward with the change.    What happens when you have an employee, who no matter what you say, defends themselves and either blames someone else or has tons of excuses why he/she couldn’t do better.

Strong and appropriate communication is an important skill for a manager.   How you communicate to your employees will either motivate or demotivate them.    Yes, you are human and don’t always communicate with clarity, though if you disrespect an employee, they will start to lose motivation.  Found this simple, though clear post on how to not speak to your employees:

Lindsay Broder on Entrepreneur.com wrote “7 Things You Should Never Say to Your Employees.”   If you are frustrated with an employee, it’s tempting to strike out and put them in their place.   That never works because they will defend themselves and usually it is by decreasing productivity.  They will also lose respect for your management style.

What is your goal when you manage employees?  Do you like your hands into what they are doing or are you willing to take the time to guide them and teach them to manage themselves?  Saw this simple, though impactful post:

Huff Post Blog “Managing Employees to Manage Themselves” by Bruce Tulgan.   He is a well known management guru that states in simple terms what you need to do to build a strong team that know how to manage themselves.

If you have been managing people for a while, you have bumped into an employee you don’t like.  They may be performing, but the style of their interactions with you may annoy or frustrate you.  Your dislike could be for any number of reasons:  they are always seeing a problem in a situation, challenge you constantly, or complain to others on a consistent basis.   Whatever your reason for dislike, you still need to manage them.

If you are fortunate to have an employee that shines in all that they do, how do you manage them so they are fully engaged in their work?  Let’s first look at the basic foundation in managing people:

In managing employees, you need an understanding on how to best manage and motivate employees.    The foundation is based on respect and a genuine desire to help each person succeed.   In many ways, when you are successful in managing employees, they shine and you take more of a backseat.   It’s not for everyone, but a strong manager knows the employee is the one who needs to succeed in order for you to meet the business goals.