Any smart business owner understands that employees play a significant role in ensuring the success of their company. That’s why hiring the right talent is critical.
However, when you hire skilled individuals, it’s only natural you trust them to do their job. Unfortunately, many business owners struggle with this and often try to micromanage almost everything their employees do.
What is Micromanagement?
Micromanagement is a management style in which a boss closely monitors or excessively controls every step of the employees’ work/projects. The main reason the management may use this strategy is to guarantee that tasks are completed in a specific way.
However, this is not always the best or most efficient method to go about things. Micromanaging can sometimes be dangerous, particularly to small businesses.
Why Micromanaging Metrics Can Destroy Your Small Business
#1. Loss of Trust
One of the dangers of micromanagement is that it destroys trust between you and your employees. Your employees will no longer regard you as a leader but rather a dictator whose sole goal is to control every step in their daily work.
As a result, this terrible conduct breaks trust between you and your employee, forcing them to leave work or lack motivation to remain productive.
Your employees will trust you if they know you trust them too. To help manage your employee better without compromising trust, ask them how they feel about working in your company and make necessary changes based on their suggestions.
You might also want to ask them to share reviews on employer review sites such as JobSage so potential job applicants can see you like the transparent and trustworthy brand you are.
#2. High Employee Turnover
People dislike being micromanaged. They feel that their opinions and decisions are unimportant.
In most cases, this does not create a fulfilling work atmosphere at work, and it may eventually lead to many people quitting their jobs. The damage is even more serious if the employee had worked for you for a long time.
Therefore, employers must consider whether their micromanagement is worth losing skilled personnel. Having to train and retrain workers regularly can cost you a lot of time and money. In addition, it may destroy employees’ morale, negatively impacting the company’s bottom line.
#3. It Discourages Innovation
One of the most severe consequences of micromanagement is killing your employees’ creative spirit.
Your team is on the front lines of your project, and they probably know more than you about what’s going on. While some of the concepts they bring to the table may not necessarily be the best, suppressing innovation and creativity eliminates the opportunities for good ideas to emerge and be shared.
The result? You end up rejecting the possibility for development by neglecting to take chances in innovation.
#4. It Creates Dependent Employees.
If you micromanage your employees, they will become too reliant on you, losing the confidence to complete work independently. In other words, micromanagement makes your employees feel as if they need to be guided at all times. Dependent staff will require more of your time and effort to manage them, which can drain your time and energy.
It’s important to remember that you hired those people because they have something special to offer your business: unique talents, insights, and skills. Therefore, you need to let them complete tasks with minimum control. When your employees are not reliant on you, they will think independently and perform better.
#5. It Takes Your Time Away from Tasks You Should Concentrate On
As you may be aware, running a business requires so much of your time and effort. As a result, you will need assistance as your company grows. Having this assistance allows you to concentrate on the tasks that only you can complete.
If you’re micromanaging your staff, you will end up wasting too much time on tasks that you hired employees to do in the first place. As a manager, your job is to lead and provide direction, not hover over everyone else’s shoulder, ensuring that tasks are completed exactly how you want them to be.
After all, the “how” isn’t as critical if goals are fulfilled and tasks are done well. By avoiding micromanaging, you save money and time in the long run.
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