Interact outside of the office. Some people build a wall and there’s that fictitious wall where somebody may feel that it’s inappropriate to contact the CEO. So I think that interacting, even on a social level with all of the employees regardless of their social position, [is key].
So even if it’s sitting down in the employee cafeteria and eating lunch with them, it’s building the relationship and making them feel comfortable first talking to you face to face. Then that builds the comfort and the assurance that they can call you whenever they need to if there’s a problem.
One of the things that we do, for example, with our lawyers is we might take them on a retreat out of town so we’re out of the office and we build that comfort with them. It could be anything, whether it’s taking them out on a boat on a weekend and letting them know that it’s OK to joke around, to drop the formalities. If they feel comfortable with you, they’ll feel comfortable talking to you.
You spend so much time working with the people around you. I just think that it’s better if you know where everybody’s coming from, their life outside of the office. It makes it easier to understand each individual and what makes them tick.
Don’t butt in to disputes. Occasionally, there may be a difference of opinion, difference of personality. Let’s say an associate would come to me and say, ‘I can’t work with Partner A anymore.’ What we would try and do is if we felt that that individual was a good talent, if we couldn’t reconcile the two of them, then we might consider making a change.
But everything is not done arbitrarily. I don’t just say, ‘OK, this is what’s going to be.’ I listen.
Being a good listener means keeping an open mind, hearing what the employees are saying to you, whether it means acknowledging what they’re saying during the conversation, whether it means contemplating it and then thereafter making a change.
I sit down and listen to what everybody has to say, and I usually will try and get everybody else to come up with a solution. If everybody else signs on or buys in to that decision, then they’re going to be happier than if I just say, ‘OK, you’re going to work here and you’re going to work there, like it or not.’
[To get] everybody to talk out in the open, ask them, ‘What would you like? What would you like? What’s the solution?’ If it’s something that works for the firm, then they’ve made the decision.
If you are arbitrarily making decisions that affect others within the company, then inevitably you’re opening the door for unhappiness. Somebody is going to be unhappy with the decision.
If you [let] all that are involved come up with a resolution with my assistance or on their own, you’re going to have less unhappiness, less dissension. I think that they appreciate it more than me just saying, ‘Look, I heard you. I’m going to side with him,’ or, ‘I’m not going to side with you,’ or, ‘I’m not going to side with either of you. This is what’s going to be.’ Then you have unhappiness.
It comes down to, ‘If you guys can’t work it out amongst yourselves, then we’re going to have to make a decision, myself or the firm’s executive committee.’
How to reach: Maltzman Foreman PA, (305) 358-6555 or www.mflegal.com
