“The magic formula that successful business have discovered is to treat customers like guests and employees like people”
- Friendships are an area where new managers often find trouble. A common mistake new supervisor’s make is assuming that everyone else is as excited about their promotion as they are – or that friends will have the same approach to the relationship as they do. For many, a new supervisory or management role requires supervising or managing friends or past peers. This must be handled with care.
- Common pitfalls the new manager needs to avoid: apologizing for the new position; showing favouritism instead of managing performance; emphasizing friendships beyond the workplace while at work; and being artificial – pretending the friendship doesn’t exist.
- Some good-natured ribbing, especially from friends or co-workers, is normal. However, others, for a variety of reasons, either might resent the promotion or not know when enough is enough and keep up the teasing or snipes. Sometimes, just ignoring the needling stops the behaviour. Otherwise, if it keeps going, the best way to handle that situation is for the manager to keep composure. He/she neither needs to justify their new position/promotion nor humor the situation. Make it clear that that commentary is unacceptable. Maintain confidence.
- Dealing with the situation immediately increases the new manager’s influence and gains him/her respect from most people. The fact is that the nature of friendships is changed and often challenged due to a supervisor or managerial relationship. This must be managed effectively.