Employee
management is, for all intents and purposes, the day-to-day engagement of
employer-employee relationships on a professional, work-related level. To manage
your employees well, you need to think of them less as the physical incarnation
of their job roles and more as the people who make your business' success
possible.
In
the past, employee management was something of a more rigid experience. These
days, successful businesses find that employing a little finesse to their
management practices is much more effective. To that end, your friends at Dale Carnegie Training came
up with six tips to get you started down the path to becoming a stronger
leader:
1.
Establish An Open Line Of Communication - The first step, if not the
very foundation, of great employee management is to establish a line of open,
honest and comfortable communication between employees, leaders and managers.
The more uncomfortable an employee is with their employer, the less likely the
two are to be on the same page. Comfortable communication comes from
familiarity, so get to know your team. This will make working together feel much
less like pulling teeth later down the road.
2.
Focus On Strengths, Not Weaknesses - Every employee has individual
strengths and weaknesses. It stands to reason that you hired them for whatever
their strengths may be. That is why spending more time correcting their
weaknesses or shortcomings is a waste of time and energy. You didn't hire the
employee to spend all your time fixing their shortcomings or to fit a square peg
in a round hole, so instead focus on actively fostering the growth and
development of their strengths.
3.
Be Reasonable With Your Expectations - Part of being a leader at your
business is being a visionary - someone with big goals and big ideas.
Unfortunately, it is easy to forget how much time, effort and energy goes into
executing a new initiative or project, which can cause leaders to
unintentionally overwhelm or overload an employee with too many expectations.
This in turn can cause undue stress and frustration for the employee, negatively
affecting your ability to manage them.
4.
Plan Accordingly When Expanding Roles - The business world is still in
a state of financial flux. With many companies regularly downsizing, many
employees are required to pick up the extra workload. The trick to effectively
managing the assignment of additional responsibilities is to plan accordingly so
your employees don't feel they have been thrown in the deep end. It is better
when an employee has time to acclimate to his or her new role and
responsibilities.
5.
Be Consistent And Reliable - As a leader or manager at your business,
you have a lot on your plate-no one questions that. Information and ideas
channel through you from a hundred different directions, not to mention new
initiatives and projects that fall on your shoulders to develop. But even in
spite of your own heavy workload, it is imperative that you be consistent and
reliable when interacting with your employees. It may prove difficult, stressful
even, but it is crucial that employees feel they can rely on you to get
something back to them promptly.
6.
Invest In Employee Training - Providing opportunities for employees to
improve and strengthen their skills shows your genuine interest in investing in
them. Naturally, any employee who feels valued is likely to be reciprocal when
being managed. Paying for employees to attend skill-strengthening classes like
those offered by Dale Carnegie Training reinforces the idea that you are
invested in them as an employee and as a component to your business's continued
success.
Employee
management is by no means a walk in the park. It takes a lot of hard work and
concentrated effort on the part of leaders and managers. But as with all things
that come as a challenge, the end results of your labor will strengthen your
company significantly. Good employee-employer relationships allow for better
communication, which in turn allows for fluid, dynamic management.
No comments:
Post a Comment