I need your help.
I have been 
an employee for most of my life, some of that as a management employee meaning that I supervised the activities of others and had responsibility for activities bigger than I could pull off on my own. What amazes me is that even though our education system is oriented to developing employees who expect to spend their productive lives dependent on somebody else, we are not training them in the responsibilities that go with being an employee or the expectations from the boss or business owner towards an employee.
I have put together a list which captures the responsibilities of an employee and a manager/boss based upon my experience. I think it covers the big points but I know that anything based upon one person’s experience is sure to be missing something- or several somethings. I would like to ask readers to add, comment or critique my list so that with more experience and though, we can make it better.
Employee:
1.Perform required tasks
2.Support business goals
3.Maintain a positive attitude
4.Seek better ways to do the job
Boss/Manager
1.Provide clear directions
2.Respond immediately and completely to questions about job
3.Review work and provide comments in a timely fashion
4.Identify and remove barriers to employee doing job
5.Provide necessary tools and training
Corporate/Owner
1.Arbitrate disputes fairly
2.Be transparent in all actions
3.Walk the talk
Making the Relationship Work
You can see that I am focusing on the main reason for the job which is performing the tasks which lead the business to success so there is no consideration of benefits and salary here. I don’t mean to say that they are not important but my interest is in the relationship between the employee and the supervisor and creating a good environment for the employee to be successful and the boss to be satisfied.
Look at my lists of responsibilities and tell me what you think is good and what I am missing. How did you learn what you know about this relationship? Why do you think we let our kids grow up to be employees without giving them any training in how to be successful?
Add your feedback
With your comments, I would like to revisit this list and make it more comprehensive.
