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Research: When Being Close to Your Employees Backfires

January 14, 2019
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Summary.   

Managers are often encouraged to develop and maintain good working relationships with employees, because doing so motivates stronger commitment and support, as well as better performance. But could bonding too strongly with employees backfire? Research recently published in the Journal of Applied Psychology suggests that it could. If managers don’t establish appropriate expectations and timelines, their good working relationships could make employees less engaged and less responsive to them in the short term.

Managers are often encouraged to develop and maintain good working relationships with employees, because doing so motivates stronger commitment and support, as well as better performance. But could bonding too strongly with employees backfire?

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