Comments about ‘9 things a boss should never say to an employee’

Great article. I'm forwarding it to my boss... Hahahahaha... :)

Btw, a boss that does the "Where were you, I worked all weekend?" is only demonstrating his inability to effectively manage a project. No project should require extra hours without some form of compensation and it should always be optional.

In a perfect world that is totally true, unfortunately it doesn't always work that way. I work for a very small company, we are trying to change from custom work to selling a product. We don't have the capital that the larger companies have, so we sacrifice, work some nights and weekends, and work as hard as we can hoping it pays off in the next few years.

My experience is that the "We've always done it that way" mentality is an excuse from employees that don't want to look at how to improve their performance. These are the same ones that complain when they get the smallest piece of the "pay-for-performance" pie.

I would add to the list for managers, "Don't say 'When you're at work we own you, body, mind and soul, so don't even think about sending a private email or making a personal phone call.' " Employees owe you work in exchange for a wage but you don't "own them" while they're at work. Get over yourelf and your inflated sense of control of those who work under your supervision.

If you work weekends or nights and don't provide some sort of SUBSTANTIAL return, you simply robbing viable workers who could've had a better job somewhere else. Many employees WANT to work extra if they can get something like "Time and a Half" overtime pay, but good managers should be able to estimate schedules, account for risks, manage staffing levels without resorting to mandatory overtime.

I worked a startup for a good chunk of my professional life. It paid better wages, and we had stock options. We put in long hours hoping that the whole thing would pay out. It didn't. Sadly even extra pay barely made ends meet when I was out of a job repeatedly due to the company foundering to stay lucrative and needing to lay off/rehire workers for an extended period of time. Ultimately, all the promises made meant nothing. I'd spent a lot of time and had never been fully compensated.

I'm now enjoying a job that is less dynamic in terms of mobility, but a lot more stable. Maybe not as exciting, but it's better for me, because I don't feel ripped off...

Duh. Too bad many bosses don't get it.