I am a dentist. I felt strongly that half my staff was against me (4 of 7 employees). So I fired them. I inherited them when I bought my business a few years ago. I am very ethical but I do care about gross revenue (as any owner should). They never fully embraced caring about revenue production or understanding that bonus pay is tied to profitability. Nonetheless, I feel it is a failing on my part as a leader that they as a group were not on my team. What can I do as a small business owner to display better leadership and engender better office morale. I should mention that I pay above market wages, have better benefits than market competitors, work with my employees to satisfy the number of hours they need and I run a schedule that is very predictable 8-5 with a lunch and we do not deviate. Further, we take great care of our patients and the staff never has to worry about patient satisfaction or quality of care. Thank you for your input.
Even the best people are less than stellar sometimes or in some situations. The best people I’ve hired over the years are great 85% of the time. There’s always little things with everyone.
That said, being a good manager is paying promptly and fully #1. It sounds like you accomplish this. They don’t need to be your buddies but you should try to be personable and not “all business”. Ask about whatever they share with you, if their mom is sick, ask how she’s doing. Having a connection, no matter how small, is very important. Have fun once in a while. Get a box of bagels/donuts/fruit whatever and encourage people to help themselves.