Glenda Stone, the former co-chair of the Women’s National Commission (WNC) Enterprise Taskforce and founder of Aurora Capital Management, was recently ordered to pay nearly £29,000 compensation after an employment tribunal found that she had unfairly dismissed a male employee. A press statement issued by her company on 3 December 2009 stated "Aurora conceded from the outset to an unfair dismissal as a result of the failure to adhere to steps of the procedure for the dismissal of the claimant."Ms Stone’s case has grabbed the headlines because she was appointed to the WNC Enterprise Task Force to promote and encourage women in business and although her contract has ended, the PR backlash is not beneficial to female bosses in general. The case has inspired many disparaging articles about women’s management styles and female bosses. So are there lessons to be learned? Posted below are the ‘Top 10 Tips to being a best boss’ as taken from Britain’s Best Boss competition website.
Ten top tips for being a best boss
1) Put your trust in people: be as open as possible and be prepared to take risks sometimes.
2) Treat people as individuals: get to know them and be open to listening to their concerns as well as their ideas.
3) Deal with individual concerns and disciplinary issues promptly: the whole team will respect you for this.
4) Set objectives that have clear outcomes and keep careful records if you have any concerns about an individual's ability to manage flexible working effectively. If they fail to deliver, then you are justified in refusing another request until they demonstrate their capabilities.
5) Its OK to say 'no' to flexible working sometimes, for example, if there are issues around performance or there is a genuinely negative impact on operational needs.
6) Make sure your communications are effective and hold regular team meetings.
7) Treat people as you would want to be treated: think back to your own experiences, both positive and negative, of managers that have supervised you.
8) Keep people fresh and motivated by promoting training and development opportunities.
9) Remember to give credit where it is due and celebrate successes. Hold regular individual reviews.
10) Delegate responsibility: not always easy at first, but by putting your trust in people, they will become more engaged in the work. Your task will become easier, freeing you up to get on with the big picture stuff.
* Information taken from Britain’s Best Boss website (organised by Working Families in association with BT).
Sources:
Aurora Press Statement (3 December 2009)
Times Online - ‘Head of Government task force found guilty of bullying her workers.'
Daily Telegraph – ‘Gordon Brown's business tsar bullied workers, tribunal finds’
Evening Standard – ‘Boss of women's task force 'bullied own female staff'
Mail Online – ‘She got through 27 secretaries in TWO years...’
FT – ‘Business leader fears ‘eggshell management’
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