Management by Fear. Does it work?

Will it help to have your staff just a little afraid so they take you seriously? Learn the differences between ‘healthy’ and ‘unhealthy’ fear.

Management is not a popularity contest. We’re hired to run a business, meet targets and expand markets—and that includes cracking down on inefficiencies, incompetencies and making sure standards, deadlines, and budgets are kept.

I think it helps to have your staff just a little afraid, just so they take your directives darn seriously. However, anything beyond that like throwing vulgarities and barking like a mad dog will get you nowhere. People have choice and they can take their employment elsewhere.

So does management by fear really work?

Management by fear actually reduces employee performance. It gives employees the opportunity to think things and take the easy way out, look for another job. Nobody likes to work for an asshole.

I used to work for this someone who has a hard reputation for barking at his people. Every sales meeting, every management meeting was about banging the tables, so much so the employees wouldn't even want to make eye contact with him. Times were good then and people made the money took all the shit and stayed. Today the company isn't doing well and people are moving elsewhere. That invariably means they take the company's business elsewhere together with the customers. Worst still, the ones that are not going anywhere are the ones that have no place to go. They are what you call "deadwood."

The fear that paralyzes companies and sends employees into nervous breakdowns are caused by management by fear. People become so terrified of their bosses that their job is less about meeting department goals or improving company profitability than keeping management happy. It is better to set clear expectations and deliver praise and punishment with logic and fairness. In other words, manage by objective, not by fear.

You don't need to go far to look at all the some symptoms of “unhealthy” fear among employees.

Here are some:

They’re more concerned with following the rules than winning the game. How many threatening memos and sanctions have you sent this year? Something is really wrong if you spend more time watching your employees than you do your competition. Worst still, you incalcuate a culture where things "work" when you are around and they don't when you are not.

They’d rather shut up than succeed. If you whitewash your staff's staff suggestions, or echoes your opinion rather than give honest recommendations on a problem based on their expertise, then fear of punishment has officially killed what makes managers truly effective: an accurate grip on reality. There was this one asshole of a managing director that would shut out his salespeople when they make suggestions upon being asked where the problem really lies. After that, none of his salespeople would ever want to say anything in a meeting. This managing director subsequently lost his job.

They don’t know why you’re angry. Many employees say they’d rather have a tough boss than an unpredictable one, who sets conflicting goals and plays favorites. “It’s like being stuck in a ring with a bull,” says one beleaguered employee, “you can’t reason with him, and you can’t escape.

So next time when you want to bark at your employees, think hard.