People Management: Is It a Priority in Your Business?
Posted By: Daniela Tancau
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People Management: Is It a Priority in Your Business?
Entrepreneurs and CEOs wear many hats. They have to consider all parts of a business – the products or services offered, the sales, the financial aspects, the team involved, the marketing, and all other aspects of their businesses. They prioritize their business aspects in different ways, involving themselves more or less in certain areas, focusing on some aspects, and giving less attention to others.
Some of these hats or roles are new to them, while others are familiar and well-managed. Some roles are liked and worn more than others. Consequently, some roles may be left in the background more than others or delegated to others.
Which parts of your business do you focus on more, and which parts do you tend to put aside or delegate to someone else to manage?
The challenge is how we handle roles that are new to us and those we don’t necessarily want or enjoy.
How Much Attention Do You Give to People Management Role?
What about the people management aspect of your business? Is this a new role for you? Do you handle it, or is someone else managing it for you? How involved are you in decisions such as:
- How can we hire people who are a good fit for our company?
- How can we create a working environment that is attractive, appreciated, and productive?
- How can we create ownership, accountability, and help employees to develop?
- How can we ensure that team members are satisfied and engaged?
- How can we create a culture that sets standards and reflects our mission and values?
Even though the HR aspect of a business doesn’t directly generate revenue, and is sometimes neglected or diminished because of this, it forms the foundation for all other aspects of the business. Every department involves people.
This is a solid reason to include the people management aspect of your business among your top priorities. You don’t have to handle everything yourself, of course, but reserving time and resources for this will significantly impact how your team members contribute to business development and results.
What Does the Role of People Management Mean to You?
If you limit people management activities to hiring and managing employee documents, you are only using a small part of what is available to you to lead your team members effectively and in a way that is satisfactory for both you and them.
People management goes beyond these tasks. It also involves managing communication within the company, mediating and resolving conflicts, career planning and development, enhancing employee motivation, ensuring integration, promoting high performance, fostering ethical behavior and non-discriminatory policies, change management, company culture, and much more.
Indeed, your HR people may not possess the skills to cover every area. And sometimes, even if they have some or all of the necessary skills, they are not asked or expected to use them.
If their skills are limited, you can view this as an opportunity to increase their motivation through training and development. Training can be provided by internal members who are more experienced or through external training programs.
Alternatively, you could collaborate with external providers to improve different areas of people management aspect of your business.
Do You Rely Mostly on Processes and Systems to Achieve Great Results?
You can build solid processes and systems for your business, but this will not ensure that your team members’ results or behaviours will meet expectations.
A business needs work processes, but these must be used as tools. The tools can be improved to better serve the employees and the company, and their utility should be assessed by those who use them. If they limit employees’ contributions, they will ultimately limit the business’s growth.
It’s a good practice to have written documentation on how certain activities should be done and to maintain consistency. However, if these practices turn the employee into an executor, leaving little room for personal contribution and creativity, it resembles a directive leadership style, where the employee is simply told what to do and how to do it. On the long term, this situation will decrease employee motivation.
Even when employees know a better way to do things, they may not speak up. There could be various reasons for this:
- maybe it’s difficult to change a process, especially in a large company;
- maybe they know their work will be appreciated more if they follow the exact process;
- maybe it doesn’t matter to them whether they do it one way or another;
- or perhaps they’ve encountered difficulties in the past and don’t want to repeat the same ”mistakes”.
The ability to make changes to processes quickly and easily, and to use them as tools for people and the business — rather than using people as tools for the processes — will make a significant difference in how people engage with and contribute to the business.
Risks of Not Prioritizing the People Management Role
Low involvement or poor intervention from management in situations such as conflicts between employees, poor communication, low performance, rule violations, or inappropriate behavior can be problematic.
If these situations are not handled by the company through designated members and are left to be resolved by the employees involved, the company assumes a passive role. It fails to define what is allowed and what is not, set standards, or create means to ensure compliance.
As a result, employees may not feel that they are in a safe environment, that their rights are respected, or that the company makes decisions regarding employees on solid and objective grounds.
Poor management often leads to higher turnover rates, as employees leave for better-managed environments.
Hiring, training, and onboarding new employees can be expensive, and harm the company’s efficiency.
Without effective people management, interpersonal conflicts may go unresolved, creating a toxic work environment.
Employees may not receive the necessary training or career development, leading to stagnation in skills and motivation. Alternatively, when training and development are provided, they might be done in a subjective manner or in a way that does not align with the employee’s professional development interests.
Poor management of people can erode the company’s culture, leading to a lack of shared vision and values.
Word of mouth and employee reviews can tarnish a company’s image as an employer, making it harder to attract top talent.
Unhappy or poorly managed employees are less efficient, which can reduce the company’s overall financial performance.
Increased turnover, lower productivity, and the need for constant re-training will raise operational costs.
Conclusion
These risks shows that people management worths its place between the top priorities of a business. It’s a vital element for success.
By recognizing and actively supporting your team through good people management practices, you’re not just managing processes but shaping a business that can adapt, grow, and succeed in an ever-changing environment.
Online Employee Motivation Program
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As part of this process, she will conduct interviews with your employees to assess their motivational levels and key drivers. In addition, she will hold meetings with management to ensure that the personalized and general motivational strategies proposed are aligned with the company’s goals and resources.
Done by You
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Posted By: Daniela Tancau
Daniela Tancau is an HR consultant, trainer, coach, and founder of Improve Work company. She has over seventeen years of experience in the human resources field. Her expertise lies primarily in online programs and courses aimed to increase employee motivation, develop team leadership skills, employee communication, and much more.
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