YELLING AT STAFF IS BAD FOR ALL.

Byline: KEN LLOYD On the Job

Q I can honestly admit that I am a screamer, but none of the employees in my charge seems to care about it. If I blow up, I apologize, but my manager recently came down on me about my outbursts, and he did not care that my employees are not upset by them. How can I get him to stop worrying about this? R.B.

A The main reason that your employees are not going to say anything about your screaming is that they are probably afraid that you will start screaming at them. Your manager has every right to be concerned about your outbursts since they are likely to be a source of dissatisfaction, absenteeism, turnover, reduced productivity and even legal problems.

This means that it is time for you to take some real steps to upgrade your managerial menu and delete the screaming activity. You probably worked for a screamer somewhere in your career, and you modeled your leadership after his or hers. The problem is that this style is highly disruptive and in conflict with the philosophy, objectives and mission of virtually every effective organization today.

Rather than trying to get your manager to stop worrying about your behavior, you should actually start worrying about your behavior. Your manager is sending you a clear message that points to a need for some changes in your behavior. In other words, being a manager is not a scream.

Q I use e-mail to keep the employees in my department current and to advise them of changes. My writing is clear, but there are always three or four people who come to me and ask for an explanation. They can obviously read, but they just don't do it. How do I get this to stop? C.R.

A Do you really want your employees to stay away from you when they have questions? That can burn up more of your time than their visits.

When information is put in writing, there can be any number of reasons why some people do not get the full message. Perhaps the writing is not as clear as the writer may think, particularly in light of the obliteration of many rules of grammar and syntax in e-mail messages. It is also possible that the receiver may have problems reading, may be a little lazy, or may need the security associated with asking the sender about the meaning.

As the writer, it will be helpful for you to see if there are any common themes in their comments to you. If so, perhaps you can make some changes in your writing to help clarify or simplify what you are trying to say.

At the same time, you should certainly tell these employees that you expect them to read the e-mail carefully and thoroughly before they call you. If they do come to visit you, do not just explain the message off the top of your head. Walk through the message with them so that they can see how clear it is, and you can see where any possible areas of confusion may lie. After all, one-way communication is one way to have real communication problems.

Q Whenever I compliment a certain employee in my unit, he either ignores it or makes a snide comment. I have told him that a simple ``thanks'' will do, but he hasn't changed at all. Should I just forget about giving him compliments? S.T.

A Just because your employee is a poor compliment receiver does not mean that you should be a poor compliment giver. If his work merits positive feedback, you should provide it.

There are people who truly do not know how to take a compliment. For example, some are genuinely humble, while others regard such attention with feelings of embarrassment or even foolishness. Still others feel that they are not the ones who deserve such recognition.

Nonetheless, although the overt reaction of many of these people can appear to be negative, several of them still like knowing that their accomplishments are appreciated. One of the key elements of effective management is to understand your employees and vary your style dependent upon their needs, drives and abilities. With this in mind, you are dealing with an employee who does not need much public adulation. This means that you should seriously consider going light in this area.

At the same time, since positive feedback has been consistently found to have a positive motivational impact, it will be interesting to see what happens if you provide him with some positive feedback in private. If you are again greeted with a snide comment, perhaps some constructive feedback about being snide is in order.