Don’t Be a Cat-and-Mouse Manager
Why employees perform better for bosses who care about them
by Kenneth A. Tucker and Vandana Allman
Authors of Animals, Inc. (Warner Books, 2004)

One of the scarier characters in our parable Animals, Inc. is a steel-gray cat named Buck, who believes in managing entirely by intimidation. „I’m the big wedge of cheese and you’re the mice,” he tells the terrified rodents who report to him. „I like my mice quiet, hard-working, and medium-well. You keep your tails clean and we’ll get along just fine. But if you don’t . . .”

If something goes wrong, or if the mice have a problem, they ignore it or try to cover it up. They’re just too scared to ask their cat manager for any kind of help.

Unfortunately, there are many managers and executives like Buck in the real world, too. One of them is Margaret K., vice president of a large organization with hundreds of thousands of employees. Margaret has a reputation for using intimidation to drive performance. Although senior management regards her as a successful and even promotable executive, her employees see her quite differently. They know her as the „Ice Lady.” One manager says that almost every week, Margaret threatens, verbally abuses, or even docks the pay of her reports. „She is a tyrant,” this manager says, adding flatly: „People hate her.”

Sadly, managers like Margaret (and Buck) have free rein in thousands of organizations; their abusive approaches often go undetected or are ignored. Indeed, despite all of the precautions that businesses implement to prevent unfair and inequitable treatment, some managers still oppress, threaten, and coerce their employees every day.

Why? In many cases, these managers deliver financial results, so the companies overlook their abuses. Those companies just don’t care enough about their employees to take a nasty leader to task.

Well, such abusive behavior should matter to businesses. When a manager and employees are in an antagonistic „cat and mouse” relationship, employees suffer — and so does the organization. In fact, The Gallup Organization’s research with millions of employees and tens of thousands of managers reveals this simple truth: Employees perform better for managers who care about them.

Why you should care

The problem is, most organizations don’t focus on measuring „intangibles,” such as nurturing relationships between managers and employees. Companies use elaborate methods to track inventory, products, and sales. Most keep records of employee attendance, earnings per employee, and net profit. But few organizations measure something as „soft” as caring — yet Gallup research reveals that caring relationships between managers and employees directly affect an organization’s employee retention, productivity, profitability, safety, and customer service metrics.

Simply put, the best organizations build caring work environments. They do this by encouraging managers to develop strong, nurturing relationships with their employees. In fact, Gallup’s research reveals that many of the most successful managers boast of being „very close to their employees.”

Alonzo J., a corporate chairman and CEO, is one such executive. „Alonzo is like a best friend,” one of his vice presidents comments. „He really cares, and it shows. I was sitting in my office one day, and I’d returned from a grueling ten-day trip. I looked up, and there he was. ‘I just thought I would drop by and thank you for the outstanding work you do for us all,’ Alonzo said as he reached out and shook my hand. He’s one of the main reasons I intend to be a part of this organization for a long, long time.”

When managers care about employees, businesses get results. Employees stay longer, work harder, and develop stronger bonds with customers. Buck the cat could learn an awful lot from Alonzo.