Ways to Deal With Employees Who Share Personal Problems With You
As the leader of a company, you have to make sure that you also mingle with the people working with you. It’s easy for you to give orders without knowing if your employees are still doing well. Therefore, once in a while, you have to ask how they feel. It’s also easier to work with people whom you have a personal relationship with.
Despite your effort to build a relationship, you have to make sure that there’s still a thin wall. You don’t want your employees to feel too complacent with you and end up not doing the job well. You also don’t want to meddle into the personal lives of your employees since it might affect how you treat them. As such, you have to try not to ask about issues at home or financial problems. You don’t want to end up finding a way to solve them. However, if the employee started to share these stories, what’s the best approach?
Be compassionate
When your employee tells you about these problems, it means that you’re someone who can be trusted. Your employee won’t come to you and open up if you don’t deserve that trust. The least you can do is show your compassion.
Give referrals
If your company has a Human Resource department or a Psychologist, you can recommend this employee to them. They’re the right people to deal with the situation. They know what to do and they can give the right advice. You might even end up saying the wrong things. It doesn’t mean that you don’t care, but you want the right people to deal with the employee.
Avoid personal conversations all the time
You have to check in with your employees once in a while to make sure they’re okay. However, the priority is to have a professional relationship. The problem is that you might end up losing that aspect because you’ve already been consumed with those personal conversations. Again, it doesn’t mean that you lack compassion, but you have to know what to do first.
Conduct team building activities
You have to make it a point to have team building activities at least once a year. The primary reason for doing so is that you want your employees to collaborate. They will only feel good about working with each other when they know each other well. These activities give them a chance to see the other side of their fellow employees. You also have to join the process so that you will know more the people in your team. Another reason is that you want the employees to feel comfortable sharing with each other first before coming to you to ask for help.
You can be a caring leader without losing your status as the head of the group. Don’t allow yourself to be too deep into personal issues since it might affect how you treat your employees. You could also be distracted from your work.
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