Without a doubt, women bring the same skills, intelligence, and capabilities to the job as men do. But managing female employees, especially as a woman business owner, sometimes requires a different approach than managing male employees.
For me, succeeding in creating an environment of mutual respect, caring, flexibility, and opportunities has not always been easy. I’ve had to learn to adapt my management style throughout my years of leading female employees on my team. I admit that I’ve made a few mistakes along the way. And I’ve observed other female business owners make some blunders, too.
Moral of the story: Avoid These Five Mistakes When Managing Female Employees.
1. Trying too hard to be their best friend.
While it may be tempting to want to be a buddy, it's important to establish boundaries, so there's no mistaking you have authority to make decisions and delegate work. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be friendly and caring, but you do need to have roles and responsibilities established. And I’ve learned some women employees feel uncomfortable if you come across as wanting to be “besties.” Not everyone wants to go out for drinks or shopping with co-workers, let alone their bosses. Some people like to keep business separate from pleasure. Period. So you need to gauge that to make sure you don’t start invading employees’ personal space.
2. Assuming money is what matters most.
Without a doubt, most professional women take their roles as providers for their families seriously. But they also feel a calling for and commitment to being nurturers and moral supporters of their family members' dreams and aspirations.
So while a pretty salary may motivate and satisfy some women, others will feel more content by having flexibility with their schedules and working environments. They won’t care how much overtime pay or bonus dollars they’ll get in exchange for working the night of their daughter’s dance recital or their son’s playoff game. Money won’t buy those memories back. An understanding company climate that allows employees to be there for their families when it matters most can be the equivalent of pure gold to some women workers.
Also realize having meaningful work may be worth more than high pay for doing mundane tasks. Of course, those boring tasks need to be done, but that doesn't mean an employee should be bogged down with that type of work all the time. When possible, I try to share unglamorous tasks across my team, and find ways to give each employee a chance to work on satisfying assignments that offer opportunities to exercise their creativity and analytical skills.
3. Trying to be a mentor
Just because you’re a woman boss and an employee is a woman employee doesn’t mean she will want you to groom her for bigger and better things. You want to have her respect, of course, but you can have a perfectly successful working relationship without her looking up to you as a mentor. And if you do have a female staff member who wants to be mentored, you need to consider how that might affect morale with your other employees. It could damage the harmony of your company’s interpersonal climate if your team believes you’re showing favoritism.
4. Trying to be a mother figure.
As a mother to my four children, this is one tendency I’ve had to make a conscious effort to suppress at work. Allowing your maternal instincts to transfer to your employee relationships can benefit your office dynamics—or it might backfire big-time. While showing understanding and patience can bolster your team members’ morale and loyalty, hovering and offering unsolicited advice can cause frustration and diminish self-confidence. Don’t try to be an office “mom.” As a business owner, that’s not your role.
5. Overdoing the praise and validation.
There really can be too much of a good thing with regard to pats on the back in the office. While it’s important to recognize jobs well done (whether by female or male employees), going overboard with kudos can appear insincere and potentially become annoying. Also, it can dilute the meaningfulness of your appreciative words when someone accomplishes something absolutely stellar. Always make sure the accolades you’re giving your employees are proportional to the significance of their achievements.
Final Thoughts: Transforming Girl Power Into Girl Empowerment
As a woman boss, your success as a leader requires honing your management skills so you apply an effective balance of authority, understanding, patience, strength, and fairness consistently and toward everyone who works on your team. Learn to tune into and use your woman’s intuition wisely. As a woman boss, your ability to harmoniously manage female employees rests in your ability to empower them without overstepping bounds and trying too hard.
