Life is all about stewardship. The Bible makes it clear that “… Every one of us shall give account of himself to God” (Rom. 14:12).

And that covers all areas of our endeavours and relationship with our fellow men. So, whether you are a master or a servant, you are a steward, therefore you must occupy that position faithfully, as one who shall give account.

What is a master’s responsibility towards his servant(s)? Whether you are a master, boss, employer or manger there are basic ethics to uphold if you must uphold to make the most of your status.

Forbear threatening!

“And, ye masters do the same things unto them, forbearing threatening…” (Ephesians 6:9).  Don’t use threats on people just because they are your subordinates. Don’t look at your staff and say, “Look at the work you did.

You don’t have brain at all, stupid! Did you go to school at all?” Such language causes demoralization, destroys potentials and blocks creativity. You are commanded to correct, but do it with moderation, not using violent and abusive words.

Let your correction be constructive and let it be done in love. It should not be a permanent approach to leadership and management. You don’t have to be abusive and harsh to prove that you are the man in charge.

The sue of threats is one of the social diseases of masters, that is why the Bible warns us against it. The concluding part of Ephesians 6:9 says, “…knowing that your master also is in heaven: neither is there respect of persons with him.”

So whatever you do to your subordinates is as if you are appealing to God, “This is the way you should be treating me.” For as you would have men do unto you, so also do unto them.

Be caring!

Proverbs 12:10 says, “A righteous man regardeth the life of his beast…” A righteous man cares for his animal, how much his staff that is working with him? Mind the way you treat that house boy or house girl today because you don’t know what they might become tomorrow.

Joseph was once a slave boy in the house of Portiphar but one day he became the Prime minister of the nation and I believe Portiphar and his wife were still in that nation. If somebody is serving as a steward in your home, you must be aware that he is not a slave but an employee.

You owe him your commitment as it is his right. You can’t say, “Well he is eating in the house” and so you assume that he doesn’t need to be paid. Eating in your house is not a substitute for paying the person you employed.

For everyone who is working with you either as a domestic or office staff, ensure that the terms and conditions of service are clearly stated and understood by both parties. Avoid assumptions!   Pay your staff his due in due time!

Another commitment that you owe your staff is his pay. Whatever made you sign the letter of appointment for any staff commits you to pay him either on a monthly or weekly basis, as agreed. You must remember to give him his due when it is due.

You have no right to hire a labourer that you are not ready to pay. Remember, employing people is not an enhancement of your social status, so you must take only as many as you need and you can comfortably cater for per time. 

The Bible emphatically states that the pay of your employee must not stay with you one night longer than necessary because his mind is on it; he is hopefully expecting it. And if for any reason it is withheld, his cry goes up to God.

I wish that heads of government establishments would know the danger of not paying employees’ salaries on time. Many nations are ruined today because people are working, yet they are not paid for upwards of three to four months.

There are social as well as spiritual implications attached to such practices. The greatest debt you can ever owe is not in bank loans but your workers’ salaries. If you are owing staff salaries and at the same time owing a bank some debts,

I enjoin you to first of all clear the debt of staff salaries. This is what is destroying many businesses today. Don’t say, “I am covered by the blood of Jesus” because the blood of Jesus won’t work in this situation. There must be regular upward review!

As your business is enlarging ensure that it reflects on your staff; their pay, welfare, etc. If all you do with your profit is buy land, houses, cartons of wine and juice drinks, pick-up vans and trailers but you don’t care for your workers, you are gradually killing the business.

If all your staff decides to leave one day, what would you do? Can you operate all the machines alone? Don’t look at your secretary for instance and say, “Nonsense! Are you not an ordinary secretary? If you go I will employ another.

There are many secretaries looking for jobs in town.” If your staff are working, review their pay upward as God blesses you. You don’t have to wait for them to ask for it, you can just do it to bless them. And the more they are blessed, the more they would love to stay with you because they know that as the business grows, they would be blessed as well.

Such staff would hardly think of sabotaging your business. This is what we call MOTIVATION. The main thrust of the principle of motivation is the ability to make people do what they would naturally not want to do; compelling people to go an extra mile with you or be prepared to die for a course they believe in.

Motivation is a miracle, and works anywhere. It is wisdom to be interested in the interest of your followers. Let anything that concerns them concern you; and anything that touches them should touch you.  

Maintain an open door policy!

If you have been faithfully paying your employees and then suddenly for some reason there is a drop in your business, what do you do? Seek negotiation with your staff.

Tell them the true situation of things, and don’t hide anything, because they would soon begin to feel oppressed and cheated. Tell them the new terms that would be comfortable for the establishment to remain in operation and then give them the option to continue or leave.
If they choose to continue with you on the new terms, let it be formally documented and signed by both parties. If they chose to leave let them go in peace. Don’t put yourself under unnecessary pressure.  God has respect for agreements!

No staff will be willing to follower an employer until he or she fully understands where he is going. Transparency is what cements any team together. Be sure you don’t have any skeleton in your cupboard; and if you don’t, then open your cupboard!

Pastor Israel Etimis the senior pastor of Winners Chapel International, The Gambia. He can be contacted on : 9917917 or 4461577