There is a prevailing misconception that the relationship between employer and employee is one of master and slave; basically employees sell themselves to their employer for an allotted time. This is completely untrue. When doing a search for “cultivating good employer/employee relationships,” another prevailing idea is one of the employer “nurturing” his/her employees which suggests the employer assume a parental role. This is also extremely incorrect.
The relationship between an employer and employee is one of quid pro quo, which means it’s a give and take relationship. The employee offers his/her skills and labor in exchange for a wage or salary. In this relationship both parties have responsibilities to uphold. The employee must fulfill his/her end of the bargain by using skills and labor to complete the tasks the employer assigns. The employer must pay the wage/salary without adding extra tasks not originally agreed upon.
Many employees end up trying to do more than they originally agreed to because they are under the impression that the employer owns their time while they are working. This causes many issues for both the employer and the employee. When one employee does multiple jobs, his/her productivity diminishes for several reasons:
There is no such thing as multitasking.
The human brain is incapable of processing the cognitive information to allow for multiple tasks to happen at the same time. What really happens is people switch back and forth from one task to the other. This is inefficient and lowers productivity. 1
A higher work load adds stress.
Stress is a major issue. In the work place it can lead to increased worry as well as a lack of energy, focus, and creativity. These and negative affects on a person’s personality not only affect productivity, but a person’s entire life. 2
The illusion of productivity can slow actual productivity.
There is a big difference between being busy and being productive. Just because employees are doing something, that doesn’t mean anything meaningful is being produced.
By prioritizing, and actually doing less, more can be achieved.3
Giving one person several jobs ensures that the right skills are not being utilized.
Each employees’ skills are tested and honed for the position they hold. 4
When an employee is given jobs outside of his/her expertise, productivity falls, while matching the skills of the employees to the jobs they do increases both happiness and productivity. 5
Two things that are necessary in the employer/employee relationship are trust and communication. Employers must trust that their employees will honor the agreement they entered into. To ensure that those employees are able to honor that agreement, employers must communicate with their employees honestly and often. Employees must trust that their employer will give them the tools necessary to complete the job they signed on for, and pay them the wage/salary that was agreed upon. If one of the parties does not live up to their end of the quid pro quo, the relationship is doomed to fail.
(If a company has a high turnover rate, take a hard look at how well they communicate with their employees. My guess is, either they do not communicate at all, do so poorly, or outright lie to them.)
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