11. Make decisions that affect workers for which they have valuable input, but don't seek that input.<p>12. Make decisions that affect workers for which they have valuable input, seek that input, but ignore it and do what you want anyway.<p>13. Say one thing and do another. (Mission Statement = A, What We Really Do = B)<p>14. Have no idea what it actually takes to get things done.<p>15. Have no idea who people are and what they do.<p>16. Believe that management is "over" workers. (Fail to understand that until a worker actually builds something, management has nothing to manage and ownership has nothing to count.)<p>17. Treat workers as unequals.<p>18. Act like children.<p>19. Pay late.<p>20. Drive the business into the toilet.<p>21. Make work so difficult or pointless that you drive your best workers to Hacker News.
This seems so obvious and straightforward, but it bears repeating:<p>If you value someone as an employee, show them.<p>Whether this is through salary increases, promotions, or even just pulling someone aside for five minutes and saying "Hey, you're doing a great job." ....show them. Especially on younger employees, its amazing how powerful a moment of unsolicited praise from a manager or senior level employee can be.<p>Obviously a bigger salary and promotions help as well, but companies often act surprised when someone they considered their "best employee" walks out, but how would this so called "best employee" even know they were highly valued in the first place when they cant get a raise that keeps up with inflation, or their manager can't even take five minutes every now and then to congratulate him/her on a job well done?
Another very common one is chipping away at any and all costs until it's ridiculous. This is usually because cutting costs is an easy way for management to make their numbers if revenue is flat. At first it really is cutting the fat, but eventually you run out of fat and start making life difficult for employees.<p>It's especially bad when the size of the cuts is meaningless compared to the cost of a given employee. Making a $100k+ employee work with a 3-year-old $1000 laptop for an extra year shouldn't make any sense in a proper company, but it's incredibly common.
'n') Require Director-level approval to spend about £20 on 2 USB powered hubs AND have the director visit to inspect the two laptops that need the hubs just to make sure you're not being extravagant.
My #1 - Treat your employees not as assets but as negative impacts to your bottom line. You'd do it better yourself if you had the time, but instead you had to hire me.<p>I have Stockholm Syndrome. My biggest problem is that I'm now being overworked so much (intentionally) that I collapse from exhaustion when I go home and don't have the energy to spend looking for a new job.
My #1:
Act as if you only have to do what is legally required. Bonus points if you use this as an excuse to play hardball and avoid keeping promises.<p>I've had two employers change their employee benefits packages/bonus structures sharply negatively within <1 year of being hired. In both cases I went up the chain and asked what other compensation I could expect. I was very reasonable and offered them several alternatives. I'm empathetic to a tough situation, and am willing to be flexible.<p>In both cases it was like talking to a tape recording. 'benefits are not guaranteed, and legally we are within our rights to change at any time' and 'sorry it's policy hands are tied'. Yes I understand that you <i>can</i> do that, but you've effectively rescinded what we negotiated when I recently agreed to work here.<p>The most frustrating part of the whole thing is how quickly things change once a two week notice is given. As if the retention offer does anything but underscore their dishonesty.
> Keep decision-making securely ensconced in the airless bunker of the executive wing. Avoid empowering mid-tier employees lest they suddenly become entrepreneurial and unpredictable.<p>Just my opinion, but I think (8) is the most insightful of these and perhaps the least obvious (though they are all obvious to an extent). (8) is also the hardest to do right. You don't want to drag a developer to five executive meetings a day so that he doesn't have time to do development; that could in itself drive him/her away. But you also don't want any of your developers to feel like they don't know what's going on with the business at a higher level, and if they have an insight there should be an easy and comfortable avenue for them to discuss it.
A shortened list<p>#0. Force usage of shitty/hopeless tools/frameworks at work.<p>#1. Pay late<p>#2. Ask for TPS reports<p>#3. Recruit a bunch of abusive retards for middle/senior management<p>These four, for sure!
There is a problem with the suggestion in #6 and it applies to management. Some companies believe they need to do this for management, and since the managers know they will be moving, they optimize for short term gain at the expense of long term sustainability.<p>A favorite tactic of managers is to fire Q&A and support staff. This is a short term win on the bottom line, but will kill things later. It makes them look good as they get to say they "optimized the workflow". Another excellent one is to put a freeze on equipment buying and let it rot.<p>If you become a big wig and are in a company inclined to move people around for experience, please, please, please add something to your evaluations that look at the position they left 1 year ago and judge them on the sustainability. If they don't help enforce a sustainable process, then they will be fired as they are just a selfish, game-player.
The article is a little sparse, but great points. I put a Haiku Deck on something similar but from a Good Manager vs Bad Manager perspective in terms of what bad managers are doing that affects their ability to retain talent.<p>I can link it here if anyone is interested(?)
more bloggers should use creative rhetoric.
instead of yet another soapbox "10 things you should do article" he plausibly argues the other side.<p>"training is costly, don't do it."<p>the irony here is like a cup of coffee.
#0 Don't pay anything close to what the employee is worth. Underpay, furlough, slow-pay your best employees to really build that desire to see if the grass is greener elsewhere.
Pretty sure the last place I worked did all ten of those. And it did lose anyone who was any good. The joke was that the only way to get respect was to leave and get re-hired.