Being a good boss requires more than avoiding bad behaviors. The document outlines five attributes, known as PERKS, that good bosses exhibit: participation, environment, recognition, knowledge, and skills. Good bosses foster participation by listening to employees and involving them in decision making. They create a positive, trusting environment by showing appreciation and promoting from within. Good bosses provide frequent positive feedback to boost employee self-worth. They ensure employees understand expectations, resources, and evaluations. Finally, good bosses continuously upgrade their people skills to get the most from employees. Mastering these PERKS attributes can help one become a good boss and earn good perks.

1. Good Bosses Have Good Perks
THERE ARE FIVE THINGS THAT CAN HELP YOU BECOME A GOOD BOSS
– PARTICIPATION, ENVIRONMENT, RECOGNITION, KNOWLEDGE AND
SKILLS – Dr. Tager.
Being a good boss requires more than just not being a bad boss. There are four
main attributes commonly associated with bad bosses. They are unpredictable,
diminish other’s self esteem, create win-lose situations and are insensitive to the
varying needs and moods of people. Avoiding these characteristics / attributes
would keep you from being a bad boss, but would not necessarily make you a good
boss. To become a good boss, one needs to deliberately make an attempt to imbibe
the qualities and work on it constantly, regularly, methodically, sincerely, and
religiously so that it becomes your second nature. These attributes has to show up
spontaneously at your place of work for you to get a title as a GOOD BOSS.
When you are seriously contemplating to become a good boss, just think of PERKS
– participation, environment, recognition, knowledge and skills. Practice this in
your work place at every given opportunity and earn the title of a Good Boss and
with that comes Good Perks.
Participation creates a sense of belonging, of being valued. Being valued leads to
greater commitment and more care and concern about the job. To foster greater
participation, you have to listen more. Listening more actually means listening to
people aggressively through ears and mind. Further, as a boss you involve employee
in decision making and help them set goals for their work.
A positive, supporting environment encourages people to learn, to grow, to try
something new and innovative. Such an environment requires mutual trust,
openness and respect. To increase trust and respect, I mean being tactful and not
blaming others. Promoting from within and showing appreciation, involvement and
direction for each person’s unique contribution is one of the unique attribute of a
good boss. There is nothing like a good environment or a bad environment, it the
environment we create and having created you have to accept, adjust and live with
that kind of environment. So learn to create a pleasant environment for people at
work so that they continue to give in their best consistently.
Positive feedback is the key to recognition that will increase self-worth. Let people
know how they are dong. Give more positive messages than negative ones. Learn
and try to give at least 4 to 5 times as many positive messages as negative ones. In
other words, increase giving positive messages to employees at every given
opportunity by simultaneously reducing negative ones.

2. Knowledge is power. Applied knowledge is super power. Knowledge improves
performance. At a minimum people / employees need to know four things which are
as under:
• What you expect them to do.
• How well you expect them to do it.
• What resources they have to do it with.
• How you will evaluate their performance.
Today every one of us without an exception needs to have skill sets i.e. superlative
skills to earn good perks. In order to survive and thrive in this competitive market,
you need to upgrade your skills sets from time to time lest it withers. In order to be
skilled, you need to apply those skills regularly which you have learned. People skills
are a specialized skill and it is learnable. In order to get the job done, the bosses’
needs to possess the art of handling people in addition to the other skills as people
are creatures of emotions. You need to press the right button each time to get the
right results from employees on rolls. One word uttered by you shall motivate one
employee or one category of employees but other word uttered under different
circumstances shall completely de-motivate those employees to such an extent that
they stop performing their duties. Thus, bosses need to possess people / human skills
in abundance apart from having their technical skills, conceptual skills,
administrative skills, decision making skills, innovative skills, delegating skills in
order to earn the title of good boss which would ultimately get translated by way of
good perks.
Finally, to promote good relationships, learn to be sensitive to the differences in
people. Adjust yourself and the work environment to match their needs.
REMEMBER PERKS. THEY CAN HELP YOU BECOME A GOOD BOSS FOR
YOUR PEOPLE.
The said write up has been written by Iyer Subramanian from Bombay Chamber of
Commerce and Industry. E Mail: iyerpdkgnm@yahoo.com Cell No: 9892523163