You never want to be in a situation where one of your managers is accused of providing preferential treatment to one or more of his or her employees. Ultimately, every worker must be treated with the same level of dignity and respect. Everyone understands this, but it's often difficult to maintain this position, at least in the eyes of employees, if you aren't constantly mindful of the way you manage them.
Your executives and senior managers must always be cognizant of the way in which they are viewed by their employees. Even if it's unintentional, they may find themselves in situations where they are considered to be treating certain employees differently than others. Overcoming this requires an active review of all interactions with the team, and is ultimately driven by one crucial element of any management style: consistency.
As long as your executives and senior managers are consistent, they can alleviate the risk of causing any friction in their team. A recent CIO article listed ways individuals can make themselves better managers, and consistency was high on the list. Bill Scudder, CIO of Sonus Network, spoke with the news source about the importance of consistency and how it not only should dictate how managers deal with each employee, but how they go about all aspects of their business.
"Maintaining a consistent behavior creates a calmness and confidence. To be approachable, they need to know what to expect from you. Your approach to performance appraisals and career feedback should be the same. Although I may adapt my style based on the person, I also try to ensure that I treat my staff equitably and fairly across the board," Scudder says.
Working with an executive search firm will help you identify and recruit executives and senior managers who display the consistency needed to be effective in their respective roles.
