Keeping It Professional

April 13, 2006

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It's tough to walk the fine line between trying to develop a relationship of mutual trust and respect and getting personally involved with your employees. While there's no law that says you can't get personally involved in your employees' lives — apart from harassment laws — it's not a good idea.

No matter what happens, you are still in a professional relationship with your employees that requires a certain amount of distance.

Some of the problems that crop up when you do get too personal are:

an expectation on the employee's part that you will overlook mistakes, lateness, and other actionable problems
feelings of resentment from other employees who suspect favoritism
the potential for harassment claims from either the befriended employee or other employees
a reluctance to make unpopular decisions or exercise discipline on an employee for fear that you'll harm the personal relationship
a lack of credibility as a leader/supervisor
a propensity to tell the befriended employee information that is confidential or inappropriate to share

Be a concerned boss, but make sure that there's a professional distance between you and your employees at all times.