Tag Archives: Leadership Training

 

Managing employees in the workplace is a huge responsibility and one that can have both positive and negative effects on all aspects of an employee’s life.

Learning how to effectively manage is vital for professional leaders looking to transform their work culture for the better.

In this article, we will discuss effective employee management and the impact this can have on individuals and the organizations they work for.

What Does it Mean to Manage Employees Effectively?

Everyone is new to management at some point in their careers. Certainly, the transition from employee to manager or team leader can be very exciting. It often comes with a pay rise, heightened responsibilities, and an opportunity to have more say in a company’s direction.

However, great business leaders also understand the heavy responsibility of managing other people – whole teams in fact – and doing so in a productive, empathetic, and professional manner.

Signs of Poor Management

Too often, managers fail their employees by demanding too much and having unrealistic expectations. This can lead to all sorts of problems for your employees and organization as a whole. Here are some of the signs that your employees are struggling under poor management:

Let’s take a look at some of these in more detail and discuss how effective management can help combat these issues.

How to Manage Employees Effectively

Managing employees well means putting people first. A people-first approach to management will ensure you manage effectively and this in turn will help your organization thrive.

Address Employee Burnout

Employee burnout is directly related to management style. According to research carried out by AMH International, there is “a significant relationship between burnout (personal accomplishment) and leadership styles (autocratic, democratic, and laissez-faire) toward job performance.”

When people think of burnout they often assume it is self-inflicted. However, this is rarely the case. More often than not it is a build-up of stress and pressure (typically in the workplace).

Employee burnout can be caused by numerous factors, however the most common include: unrealistic expectations from management, unmanageable workloads, unsociable working hours, poor working conditions, and lack of support in the workplace.

Burnout is becoming increasingly common in today’s society, as it is a condition that is caused by persistent stress. LuxuryRehabs.com explains that ‘In modern-day “hustle culture,” the pressure to work harder can be overwhelming. And even if you love what you do, working too much can drain the joy right out of your life. But there’s a bright side—burnout doesn’t have to be permanent.’

As a manager, it is your job to properly address and manage employee burnout so that people can not only function in their job but thrive. There are two ways you can achieve this:

Offer Flexible Working Hours: the traditional 9-5 working model doesn’t work for everyone. Whether your employees have school pick-ups to deal with, a car service booked, or a doctor’s appointment to get to, it can be difficult to fit everything in. Offering flexible working hours is a great way to show your employees that you care about their work/life balance. Choosing when they work also gives employees more control over their job, which in turn increases productivity and satisfaction while at work.

Lead by Example: One of the primary aspects of effective leadership involves leading by example. Whether they want to impress you, are worried about maintaining job security, or want your job one day, your employees will follow your example. So, it’s important that you lead well. A few simple ways to do this include; taking a lunch break, avoiding working late, taking time off once in a while, showing compassion and understanding to others, and having integrity.

According to Forbes, “Leading by example will build up your team members and prepare them for more prominent roles in the future. Ultimately, that results in your team being more productive, more effective and more efficient while feeling more satisfied in what they’re doing.”

Address Mental Health and Provide Support

As a manager, it’s important to be aware of the mental health struggles your employees face and be equipped to manage these in a productive way. Around 280 million people worldwide experience depression alone and this can have significant effects on people’s lives.

Addressing the range of mental health struggles that your employees might struggle with is an important part of being an effective manager, and this can help to mitigate burnout in the workforce. It will be vital for the success of your employees and your organization. Here are a few ways you can address mental health struggles in the workplace:

Create an Open Door Policy: one of the best ways to combat mental health in the workplace is to establish positive connections with your employees. This is best achieved through open and honest communication.

Establishing an open-door policy is a great way to connect with your employees. It lets them know you are available to talk and separates the feeling of ‘us vs them’ that is often prevalent in the workplace, particularly between managers and the people they manage.

Provide Mental Health Support: addressing mental health problems directly is essential for managing your employees well and supporting a healthy, thriving work culture. Providing mental health support in the form of counseling, therapy, rehab, and mental health training days are all great ways to go the extra mile for your employees.

According to The American Psychological Association, “Organizational leaders are well-positioned to influence a positive culture shift and normalize mental health in the workplace. These positive and supportive workplace practices can boost employee mental health, company morale, and your bottom line.”

Help Employees Feel Valued

Employees who feel valued by their employers are more likely to work hard and perform better. If you want to manage effectively, you must help your employees feel valued. This is achieved through all of the points mentioned above as well as the following:

Offer Development Training: properly training your employees isn’t just important for development, it helps keep employees motivated and like they’re working towards specific goals. Providing the right training and development opportunities is essential for this.

According to our article Supervisor Training: Insider Tips for Management Skills Development, “It has been proven time and time again that companies that invest in employee training see an increase in morale and motivation to do the job[…] It’s more important than ever to do everything you can to keep employees happy, make them feel valued, and show them a path forward with your company.”

Prioritize Open Communication: as we mentioned above, leading by example is integral to management success and one of the most important parts of this is open communication. Taking the time to talk with your employees and be honest about the state of the business and the challenges it is facing sends a message that you value their opinions and the roles they play. Involving employees in open conversations is great for encouraging team collaboration, establishing trust, and helping employees feel more engaged in their roles.

But, how do you communicate with your hourly employees who do not have access to email? TeamSense breaks down effective communication methods for improved engagement and productivity with your team on the shop floor.

Keep Employees Safe: it is your responsibility to ensure your employees can work safely. This means carrying out health and safety risk assessments, providing quality work equipment, and offering the relevant training.

When you are committed to health and safety in the workplace, it shows your employees that you care. Workers are more productive when they can work safely and safe working environments reduce illness, injury, and accidents – saving your business money and protecting your people!

In Summary

Taking on the role of manager in the workplace is a huge responsibility. It’s a chance to make your mark on a company, to support its direction and growth, and to have a lasting impact on the lives of its employees.

We hope this article has highlighted the importance of a people-first management approach for an effective management strategy. If you prioritize your employees’ needs and take the time to listen to their concerns, you will help shape a team that is committed, driven, and thriving now and into the future.

*This article is written by Sophie Bishop. Sophie is an experienced construction writer with a passion for sharing insights and her experience within the health and safety sector. Sophie aims to spread awareness through her writing around issues to do with healthcare, wellbeing and sustainability within the industry and is looking to connect with an engaged audience. Contact Sophie via her website: https://sophiebishop.uk/.

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Knowledge is power, right? The problem? Most working professionals learn the majority of what they will ever know about their chosen profession between the ages of 18-22. They’re kids still, at that age, not even legally allowed to rent a car.

Sure, they’ll learn more on the job. Arguably, they’ll learn everything that really matters at work. But those pedagogical skills. The theory and tech that goes into professional life — that’s typically learned in the more formal classroom setting.

Without upskilling, your staff can wind up in professional limbo. Fortunately, there are many ways to continue developing professionally, even after school is out.

In this article, we take a look at how upskilling your employees can help create a stronger organization.

What is Upskilling?

As the name suggests, upskilling is simply the process of teaching your staff new skills. They learn more about how things work around your organization and perhaps gain the capacity to fulfill other responsibilities somewhere along the line. Kind of like a professional cross-fit program.

Instead of an inordinate amount of leg days, you have team members learning about new technologies or embracing business concepts that might otherwise be outside their job description.

Usually, upskilling is framed as being optional — professional development opportunities that, while not compulsory, may improve the employee’s overall standing within the organization somewhere down the line.

Not everyone will be interested in upskilling, but those who are will learn valuable skills.

Identifying the Go-getters

One of the most obvious benefits of upskilling your employees is that it helps to identify the go-getters. With this, you find out quickly who is interested in growing professionally, and who is more or less coasting on the job. When it comes time to decide who winds up taking on leadership roles, your upskilled staff will often be a great first place to look.

Filling Gaps

Upskilled professionals may also be better equipped to fill gaps within your organization. This is a problem that business leaders all over the world are still dealing with. They have jobs to fill, but they can’t quite find the people willing or qualified to take them on.

You definitely don’t want to rely on your best employees to pick up all the slack, but you can use them here and there to handle additional responsibilities when the moment requires it. Just make sure you reward them accordingly. Short-staffed businesses often experience very high levels of turnover because the work becomes more stressful for the people who remain.

You certainly don’t want to drive away you’re A-team, so call in the favors sparingly and make sure that your incentives are on point.

Avoid Efficiency Lags

As staff members age they inevitably fall out of touch with the most modern business practices. How could they not? Things change constantly, both in terms of what is considered best practices, and based on things like what technology is being used now.

If you’re twenty years out of college, you might not have your finger on the pulse of the latest industry trends. Upskilling is a great way to stay refreshed on what is going on in your chosen profession.

A Downside to Upskilling?

There are downsides and risks associated with upskilling your employees. Perhaps the most straightforward of these is that it takes time, and, by extension, money to teach people new things. Depending on your current resources, that might not be in the cards.

There’s also just the risk of alienating your staff. People work hard. They don’t really like being asked to work harder. You can edge around that particular issue by making professional development optional, but even then you run a bit of a risk. Yeah, you don’t have to do it but…you have to do it, right?
Read the room. There are times to upskill, and times to leave things be. As a decision-maker, it’s your responsibility to take an analytic view of the situation and go from there.

It’s also important to keep in mind that upskilling, or any other form of professional development is not a one-time thing. Technology will continue to change. Strategies will change along with it, and it will be time to refresh your staff’s knowledge all over again.

Learning and progress are important elements of growth, but remember that slow and steady can win the race here. You want to encourage your staff and help them grow. Not bombard them with new responsibilities.

*This article is written by Andrew Deen. Andrew has been a consultant for startups in almost every industry from retail to medical devices and everything in between. He implements lean methodology and is currently writing a book about scaling up business. You can follow him on Twitter @AndrewDeen14.

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