Employee Management Tips

Whether you are a CEO, intern or new executive, knowing how to work with others is a key element of success in any position. But for both young and experienced leaders, knowing how to lead people, with all their eccentricities and ambitions, is a key element to your professional success - and the success of the company.

Fortunately, it is possible to develop people management skills that facilitate success by supervising and developing your direct employees, whether you are a new or experienced manager. And while mastering these skills usually takes time, you can now improve your people management skills.

What is Employee Management?

Human resource management is a broad topic that encompasses the development, organization, problem solving and the development of the employee side of the business. These skills range from the ability to resolve a personality conflict between team members to building an effective human resources system for a company.

You have a management team because you do not expect employees to magically create and enforce the company structure. Similarly, the idea behind human resources management is that you have managers because you cannot expect employees to manage their own development, processes, and human resources issues on their own.

Human resource management skills - from effective 1:1 leadership of a company to structured integration - enable managers to solve problems and involve employees. You can strengthen your people management skills by slightly changing the way you think and look at issues. The following tips will help you think about how you can change your own process to become a more effective and efficient manager.

The role of a manager is not always easy. While at the beginning of your career you were probably only responsible for your work, it is now up to you to inspire, lead and motivate your team to achieve a number of goals for the organization.

Working with everyone will not be easy, and making sure everything runs smoothly can often be a challenge.

So how can you be a great manager who demonstrates authority and leadership while maintaining the respect of your colleagues?

Here are some of our best tips for effective management;

1. Employee management begins with listening, and listening begins before you think it

We consider good listening to be something that happens between the beginning and the end of a conversation: Pay attention, make eye contact, take notes and wait for the other person to finish before you start talking. And these are all elements of listening skills that you need to practice.

But good listening is crucial to leadership, and that starts before you even sit down to talk to a coworker. According to Dianne Schilling, an expert in emotional intelligence, the key to good listening is to stay open and not jump to conclusions before or during the conversation.

This means that you cannot assume what an employee thinks, what his problem is or what the solution to his problem is - you have to let go of your preconceived opinions and ask them. Even if they think the cause of a problem is obvious, a great manager listens with the intention of understanding as much as possible about the situation; they don't just barge in with a possible solution. Prepare for the meetings, but do not leave believing that you know all the answers.

2. Learn to separate personal problems from organisational problems

Employees will have problems, and you must help them solve them. But not all problems are created equal. The causes of workplace problems can often be divided into two categories: personal problems and organizational problems. They can manifest themselves in the same way when you talk to one or more employees, but if you understand the difference, you can avoid a disproportionate reaction. Treating an organizational problem as a personal problem is like sticking a plaster on a broken window. Similarly, treating a personal problem as an organizational problem is like turning your kitchen into a better cook.

Personal problems can be:

• the individual workload of an employee
• the problem of an employee in his approach
• the dissatisfaction of an employee with team members or performance
• the dissatisfaction of an employee with his work due to the desire to change projects

These problems, if they occur with one (or a few) employee(s), can be corrected with your human resources management skills and without major reorganization. On the other hand, organizational problems are deep-rooted and cannot be solved by solving an employee's problem.

Organizational problems can be :

• Teams that are unable to collectively meet workload demands
• Workflow problems that often lead to errors or delays in the organization or team
• Power struggles or hostilities between team members due to poor overall performance
• Many employees do not feel able to control their professional projects and career paths

These problems are due to difficulties inherent in the organisation of the company. Managers need to use their people management skills to understand the organizational problem behind the above problems, while keeping employees afloat until the problem is actually solved.

3. Understand each employee's purpose

In order to communicate with and empathize with employees, you need to understand what attracts them to their role and the enjoyment they derive from their work, i.e. their purpose. The goal is largely what makes people happy at work and what drives them to succeed and develop professionally. If you know why an employee feels connected to his or her role and why this motivates him or her to make an individual contribution to the company, you can understand, as a manager, how you can help him or her succeed in a way that also benefits the company.

People want to work on projects where they think they can do a good job, and when they have the opportunity to do what they do best, they feel more connected to their work. By determining exactly what an employee likes about their role - or why they want a promotion or a new role - you can design solutions so that employees can see how your solution helps them achieve their goals and how they have some of the tools they need to implement that solution.

For example, two engineers are struggling with a project they are working on. They are not interested in the end result of the project and are not motivated to finish the job. The other appreciates the project and the collaborative aspect of pair programming, but does not get along at all with their pair programming partner.

The first engineer may have to be completely removed from the project or at least get another job to help him or her move in a direction that suits him or her. But removing the second from the project would mean removing them from the work they love - instead, making sure they move on to a new partner who would cheer them up. The assumption that the two engineers should be reassigned or both repaired would not take into account the overall situation: these engineers have different objectives and therefore different problems.

4. Weigh praise and criticism wisely

It may seem easier to give praise than criticism, but studies show that theory does not hold up when it comes to the workplace. One survey found that 44% of managers said it was stressful to give negative feedback, but shocking 40% of the same group never gave positive reinforcement.

Employees need a balance between praise and criticism to thrive. If you only praise good work, you are a straw man who frustrates employees because you are not helping them thrive. But only the critics and your employees will be frustrated and demoralized.

According to the Harvard Business Review, a good rule of thumb is to give more praise than criticism, which shows that top teams generally receive a steady stream of compliments:

This does not mean that you have to lie to your employees about their performance or forego constructive feedback. Rather, it is about recognizing when, where and how to praise. Employees' efforts should be rewarded regularly and on time. Public praise, private praise, and special awards (such as Employee of the Month or other rewards) are all tools of human resources management that can help build trust and morale.

Criticism, as well as praise, must be given in good time. Instead of simply pointing out mistakes, good managers provide feedback by helping employees find solutions to overcome their weaknesses. By helping employees set new goals, you show them that you believe in their ability to improve and are willing to help them get back on track. Remember to end on a positive note!

5. Never leave a meeting without asking employees this open question

Whether it's a quarterly performance review or preparing for a meeting with a customer, you should always end every important conversation with 'Is there anything else.

The most important things - their biggest challenges - will come first. This can give employees an opportunity to ask for help instead of waiting for a big meeting to try to get through all their ups and downs. It can also allow you to follow their progress and their work without them feeling that you are in trouble.

Above all, this advice is an easy way to build trust with your employees and be a better manager. It indicates that you care about their problems and that you want to know about them, even if it is not explicitly on the agenda. Human resource management is based on interpersonal relationships, and developing them at every meeting is a good way to build relationships.

6. Call me if everything's okay

Think of it this way: You are an employee who has worked fairly easily so far. But suddenly you have a big problem with your latest project. Since you don't talk to your line manager regularly, you don't really know how to deal with it or what to expect. Should you write an e-mail or Slack DM ? Will they yell at you ? Do you have to write a letter ? You are stressed in times of crisis!

Fortunately, managers have the power to prevent their employees from getting into such a stressful situation by informing them when everything is going well. Regular meetings require communication and provide employees with a simple space to turn to when things get complicated.

The ideal is to meet once a week, but bi-weekly meetings are also helpful. Even a 1:1 meeting doesn't have to be complicated - especially when things are going well, they can be a place where you can review your goals and get to know your employees. And you'll be more likely to put out fires before they threaten to devour a project or customer relationship as well.

Conclusion: Don't leave things to chance

Where good managers step in when necessary to make teams work and motivate employees, senior managers are proactive and responsive to the needs of their workplace. Employees won't magically resolve all their differences and find the ideal way to develop and achieve their career goals - it's up to you to get them there. Whether you're reassigning engineers or listening with empathy, as a leader you have a responsibility to proactively manage the people side of the business.

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IceHrm is a Human resource management system for small and medium-sized organizations. This HRM software centralizes employee data and allows only one authorized person to access it, providing a high level of security. The presence module monitors employee time based on information about insertion and perforation. It covers all the basic HRM needs of a company such as Time Management, Training, and Development, Attendance Management, Expense management, leave management, Recruitment management and handling employee information.