The Role of Interpersonal Relationships in the Workplace

The relationship between a manager and employee is a crucial building block to a fortified and functioning work environment. More specifically, if a manager can find a way to bridge the gap between themselves, and their employees, they can find ways to motivate and ultimately enhance the working experience and environment. It’s easy to simply state that a manager needs to be “qualified” for such a task. However, which qualities of a manager are most important for connecting with the employees and how might each characteristic contribute to managerial success in this endeavor?

The first thing to note in terms of interpersonal relationships in the workplace, is what an interpersonal relationship is to begin with. An interpersonal relationship is A close association between individuals who share common interests and goals. In the workplace, interpersonal relationships can have a direct affect on how well individuals communicate, share ideas, and the overall functionality of work. Since most full-time jobs require working at least 8 hours a day, it’s unlikely that a single individual can go the entire shift without interacting with others. It’s important to note that humans are social creatures. Isolation, especially from other human beings can lead to depression, poor sleep quality, impaired executive function, accelerated cognitive decline, poor cardiovascular function and impaired immunity at every stage of life. The relationship between a manager and the employees can been seen in this way as a means of promoting a healthier working environment that encourages ingenuity, cooperation, and overall job satisfaction.

Leadership

The qualities of a manager can have a major influence over the quality of work. In this regard, managers also have an impact on the enforcement of company ethics and protocols. It is for these reasons that certain qualities are sought after from managers. Managers have an innate power over their employees that can be expressed using rewards or coercion. Reward power is achieved through control of incentives, while coercive power controls sanctions (Burress, 1996). How this power is used can be attributed to leader power. This quality itself is important because a manager needs to know when to apply either power to a given circumstance in a way that is just and fair. This helps establish a dynamic in the workplace that allows employees to instill themselves with the correct ethics and strive to work toward incentives while avoiding negative consequences. This reinforces the principle of optimism in employees, which can employee perception of how attainable certain goals are, such as a promotion or a bonus. Optimism [is] operationalized as a person’s explanatory style: how he or she explained the causes of bad events. The reinforcement of the idea of optimism can incentivize employees to work harder and more efficiently, which can lead to a more effective working environment. On the other hand, negative or no reinforcement of optimism can lead to lack of motivation, lethargy, lower quality of work or termination.

Empathy, Responsibility and Communication

Two qualities that are key to interpersonal relationships are empathy and communication. Empathy plays a critical interpersonal and societal role, enabling sharing of experiences, needs, and desires between individuals and providing an emotional bridge that promotes pro-social behavior. The connection here is that managers need to be able to put themselves outside of a leadership role at times to understand what exactly their employees are going through. Empathy in the workplace can allow managers to connect with employees on a human-to-human level. This, in turn, allows employees to trust their managers and feel more comfortable and safer around them and in the working environment. It’s important to be able to react to the needs and misfortunes of employees in a compassionate way in order to better improve lines of communication.

Communication is an important skill that should be present in a manager. This includes both non-verbal and verbal communication. In addition to this, communication doesn’t necessarily just mean an individual’s ability to give off ideas but also means that an individual should be able to accept ideas from others and be able to accept criticism. Mangers must make decisions but also need to be able to listen to the reasonings and opinions of employees. Having an environment where ideas can be shared back and forth can lead to better decisions and can encourage employees to speak up and contribute to discussions and decisions. Employees’ communication motives of pleasure, affection, inclusion, and relaxation are positively related to supervisor-subordinate communication satisfaction. Not only this, communication between the upper management trickles down through the managers. If a manager is unable to interpret and share any morals or ideas from upper management effectively, it can lead to negative consequences such as misbehavior, unethical practices between employees, and a lack of direction. Managers also need to be able to establish that they are in charge, while simultaneously not coming off as dictatorial or abrasive. Communication needs to be effective.

Managers in a working environment have a list of things that they are responsible for, whether it be planning tasks and overseeing the work of the employees, to making sure that everything on a day to day basis is under control. A manager needs to be able to deal with these responsibilities in a way that is timely and efficient. These responsibilities should not be given to an employee of the manner due to laziness. If any of the responsibilities of a manager aren’t taken care of, the manager needs to be accountable for any mishaps and not place blame on others. In a manager to employee relationship, seeing that a manager is accountable and is willing to admit when they have done wrong can inspire employees to do the same or provide much needed relatability.

Conclusion

Interpersonal Relationships are crucial in a working environment. It is through these relationships that managers can work to inspire workers and motivate them in several ways, both as an employee and as a person. Empathy, communication, and leadership are just a few of the important qualities that a manager should have in order to effectively manage employees. Without the right qualities, a manager cannot go about their job in the most efficient, and optimized way. A connection between managers and employees shouldn’t be viewed as a by product of work but instead, one of the many goals of a company.

References

• Juneja, P. (2015). MSG Management Study Guide. Retrieved from https://www.managementstudyguide.com/types-of-interpersonal-relationships.htm
• Novotney, A. (2019, May). Social isolation: It could kill you. Retrieved from https://www.apa.org/monitor/2019/05/ce-corner-isolation
• Burress, M. A. (1996). The Relationship between Team Leader Behaviors and Team Performance and Satisfaction. Retrieved from EBSCO
• Chan, F. M. (2002, May). Optimistic Personality, Work Performance, and Interpersonal Relationships at Work: A Field Study. Retrieved from EBSCO
• Riess, H. (2017, June) The Science of Empathy. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5513638/
• Jia, M. (2013). Emotion and Communication Behaviors in the Workplace: Supervisor Nonverbal Immediacy, Employee's Emotional Experience, and Their Communication Motives. (Electronic Thesis or Dissertation). Retrieved from EBSCO