Here at YES! Your Human Resources Solution, we already know the number-one reason why people will quit their jobs in 2014: because they don’t like working for their bosses.  No, we’re not clairvoyant; we’re working from reliable trends, so this shouldn’t come as a surprise to us Human Resources professionals or small-business owners.  It may, however, come as a big surprise to you bosses.

Reality check: your employees may not like working for you.

Back to those reliable trends—they also show that half of employees out there would fire their own bosses.  Not coincidentally, about that same number think they could do your job better than you can.

The good news is, this sentiment may not be your fault.  An unhealthy employee-boss relationship can start with a simple mismatch, such as a micromanaging boss paired with an independence-loving employee.  Some employees will expect too much from you, such as to put their career interests above the needs of the department or the company.  Still other employees’ negativity will stem from having no real understanding of what you do.

The bad news is, this sentiment may be totally your fault.  Are you a bully?  Are you ungrateful?  Are you coming across as incompetent?  You may have no idea how your employees perceive you.  You can always give them an anonymous poll to find out what they think of your leadership style.  But for a surefire way to begin improving relationships with your employees, check out our tips on how you can work to be a better boss in 2014.

• Encourage your employees.  Each of your employees is talented in a unique way.  Take care to note everyone’s strengths, and then build them up!  Employees will be happy knowing you have an interest in their career goals.  You will not only be improving your employees’ effectiveness, you’ll also be improving their longevity with the company, thereby proving you’re a great boss who can foster and retain top talent.
• Don’t be a tyrant.  Your employees are only human.  They have families and hobbies that, let’s face it, they would rather spend time on instead of crunching numbers for the latest corporate balance sheet.  So when you ask your employees to spend more of their time at work, make sure it’s for a necessary reason, and make sure you ask sparingly.  An occasional weekend or late night is perfectly acceptable when there’s a huge deadline looming, but if you’re consistently asking for overtime, maybe it’s time to examine the workload or time-management methods.
• Give credit where it’s due.  Just as you are eager to impress your boss with your great deeds, your employees are eager to impress with theirs.  But be careful not to take credit away from your employees’ work.  Not only will you breed resentment, but that resentment will likely lead to the loss of your top performers, and who do you think your boss will look to for the next round of all that fantastic work “you” did?  Part of being a great boss is showing that you can hire and develop employees who do great work, as much as recognizing your employees for a job well done.  So make sure to give proper credit to your team!
• Be timely.  We don’t just mean be timely when you walk in the door in the morning; we mean be timely in completing your work, especially as it affects your employees.  If you have employees who have been waiting six months for their annual review and merit increase, this is an area you will definitely want to work on.  Also watch out for time-off approvals, signatures on letters and contracts, and orders for office supplies.  Make sure your employees aren’t waiting on you to be able to fulfill their responsibilities.
• Be present.  Yes, you should be timely when you walk in the door in the morning, and you should also be available for business all day.  As the boss, you are setting the standard for how hard your employees should work.  If you wander into the office at 10 and leave at 3 every day, what example does that set?  Do your best to keep a consistent presence in the office, and your employees will notice your commitment.  It may also help to have an “open door” policy, where employees are invited to stop by your office at any time to talk with you about their lives, their work—anything they think is appropriate.

As you work to be a better boss in 2014, take this one final reminder with you: you are not perfect.  No one is!  Even the hardest-working bosses are bound to have a few not-so-perfect relationships with their employees, and that’s OK.  But by following our tips to become an even better boss this year, you’ll be working to improve how your employees see you, which in turn will work to improve how your bosses see you!