At the heart of effective people management is accountability, says Treacy Sheehan, principal of Australia-wide recruitment and training firm Trace Personnel, ‘You have to make performance expectations clear,’ she says.
Know your KPIs
This means setting clear key performance indicators (KPIs), and regularly checking in with staff to see if these have been met. If staff are struggling to meet their KPIs, then it’s up to you to work with them to try to help them improve their performance.
This involves asking staff members why they think they are not meeting their targets, and working together to come up with new strategies to help them meet their goals.
Feedback welcome
More generally, implementing a system to find out about employee perceptions of the business, as well as gaining feedback on what could be improved in the business, can be a key business tool. For some companies, this will mean regularly surveying employees on a confidential basis, to ascertain their thoughts and ideas. For others, employee feedback might consist of regular, informal discussions with employees about what’s on their mind.
One idea is to use a simple internet survey tool such as Survey Monkey. This is an online tool that allows you to set up a confidential electronic survey in minutes. An idea is to use the tool for employee surveys, perhaps asking staff to respond to a brief survey on a monthly or bi-monthly basis.
If the business is big enough, it’s an idea to make employee communication part of one of the executive team’s KPIs, or to include it as an agenda item during board meetings. That way, someone in a senior position is accountable for this important area of business management.
Peace in the workplace
When it comes to conflict resolution, Sheehan’s advice is ‘to deal with it immediately – don’t wait until the situation has passed. If the conflict is between two staff members, ask them to have a coffee together to see if they can sort it out. If that doesn’t work, sit down with them and see if you can work through the issues together. Staff appreciate good leadership,’ she says.
Inclusive interaction
John Shein is a partner in boutique recruitment company Salt & Shein. He says conflict is rarely an issue in his workplace because of the inclusive culture he has fostered, and because his is such a small team. ‘We’ve been employing people for two years and we have never had to manage conflict. Because we are able to interact as colleagues and there’s no master and subordinate relationship we’re able to have open communication, which helps resolve conflict before it really happens.
According to Shein ‘promoting a collegiate atmosphere helps to nip conflict in the bud, which is an advantage small businesses have over large ones’.
Shein says, however, that his informal approach to managing people works best for small teams. ‘This style is great for managing teams of less than 10 people. Teams of more than 10 need a more formal management style, such as formal conflict resolution procedures.’
Plenty of time and patience
Finally, remember that managing people takes time and patience – probably more time and patience than you bargain for. Whenever you are dealing with staff, it’s important to genuinely listen and respond to their concerns. Taking this approach will generate genuine respect.