Keeping It Professional

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.

Too close for comfort. 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.