The results of Management by Fear are all bad. First of all, if the store manager, senior manager, senior pastor, CEO, etc., uses this style, their associate managers will probably adopt it as well. In the department store I referred to in Part One, most of the associate managers attempted to copy store manager George in their management styles. Most of them were abusive, abrasive, and dictatorial in the way that they related to their subordinates. I remember one associate manager who transferred in from another store. She was a hard worker but was very pleasant. Her people loved her because she was fair and treated them like adults. She did not last six months before George ran her off.
Another result of this management style is that there is no loyalty created in the work force. If employees are treated poorly, they are not going to do any more work than they have to. They are not going to look for ways to make the business or organization better. If they are managed by intimidation, they will not feel a sense of their own value to the company. If they don’t feel that they are valued, they will only do the minimum amount of work that they can get away with.
A third result of Management by Fear is high turnover. The turnover rate at George’s store was extremely high. The average time an associate lasted at the store was about three months. They just could not keep people. I would hear George and his associates talking about it, “Why can’t we keep people? We pay more than any other store in the mall.” When another associate would quit, it wasn’t unusual to hear an associate manager say, “Well, they just did not want to work.” In reality, the person did want to work, but they wanted to work in a place where they were appreciated, treated with respect, and treated fairly. They were willing to take less money to find more peace of mind.
Do you feel that your boss appreciates you? Do you feel like what you do matters? When was the last time a supervisor or manager publicly praised and honored you or one of your peers?
Annie and I are serving the Lord in Curitiba, Brazil. Would you consider being a part of our support team? Obrigado! (Thank you!)
