The Manager’s Guide To Handling Employees
As a manager, one of the essential aspects of your role is to look after those you supervise. When you first come into a role of this sort, it can be quite exciting – there is plenty of responsibility, and that can often be a heady mixture of thrilling and frightening. But no matter how frightening it might get, it is always important to try and remain the ideal boss at all times. When it comes to knowing how to handle your employees, there are many occasions when this might be somewhat unclear. However, it is likely that every situation you run into will be something that others before you have had to deal with. Knowing this should help you to retain some perspective on the matter at hand.
Let’s have a look at some of the major aspects of managing employees, and some of the things you should bear in mind along the way.
Knowing The Roles
Any business has a huge number of different roles which the employees need to fill. If you can know what those roles are as a manager, you will find that your job is made much easier. This is because you need to know the boundaries and limitations of different people’s roles if you are to get the most out of them and be able to treat them in the best manner possible. As such, you might want to take some time to get yourself acquainted with the different roles in the company – or at the very least, the various functions in the team that you manage. One of the quickest ways to upset many employees is to ask them to do something beyond their purview. However, knowing what they are meant to do, and what they do not have to do, will help you to avoid this particular faux pas. It will ultimately help you to treat your employees more equitably – and that is something which tends to be imperative to a lot of people in the workplace.
Numbers
There is always a surprising amount of importance placed on the numbers within a business. This, too, is something you could benefit from contemplating and learning more about. It is hugely helpful regarding your relationships with your employees if you are confident in the numbers in the organization. Knowing how many people are required for any particular task means that you can allocate work much more smoothly and efficiently, without overloading anyone or leaving anyone with too little to do. Getting the numbers right can be incredibly difficult to do, but it is something that is worth perfecting if you want to be the best manager you can be. With time, this is something that you will find becomes much easier.
Recruitment
If you are going to be involved in the recruitment process, then you will want to make sure that you know exactly what is going to be involved. Along the way, it is vital that you act in a way which shows the utmost respect to your candidates and current employees so that nobody feels they have been treated unfairly or in a bad way. To be able to do this, you will need to be confident on what it is that you need to do throughout the recruitment process. See https://hr.ucr.edu/recruitment/guidelines/process.html for information in detail on this subject.
When you are looking for new employees for a new role, in many respects it is much more difficult. You don’t have anything to compare it to, and it’s hard to know exactly what an accomplished individual in that role would look like. But whether you are filling new or existing roles, you need to do everything you can to give every candidate a fair chance. Be sure to allow candidates the same opportunity to interview and apply, and judge them solely on what they do and say, not on anything else such as appearance. Even before they are working for you, you need to treat them as fairly as possible.
You should be sure to be loyal to the business itself as well. Only hire someone when they genuinely really deserve it, for a start. And you should make sure that you carry out every part of the recruitment process exactly as it is meant to happen. Don’t skip any parts, even if it seems they are not quite as important. There is a good reason behind every part of the process, so make sure you don’t overlook any of it. As long as you are hiring the right people, you will probably find that your job as a manager within the company is made much easier. So that is another very good reason to be careful about who you actually hire.
Rules & Regulations
All businesses have certain rules which need to be followed. If they didn’t, then it is likely that much less would get done on the whole. Whatever the rules and regulations in your business happen to be, you should make sure that you do everything you can to keep them in check. This often means having to be something of a disciplinarian with your fellow employees. Some managers find this awkward at first, but it is essential, and after a while, you will find that it gets surprisingly easy to do. Of course, to be able to do this, you do need to have a clear idea of exactly what the rules are – so make sure that you brush up on them as frequently as possible. If you don’t know the rules, your employees might not respect you quite as much – and a good manager often thrives on respect.
Disciplinaries
Occasionally, an employee will do something that does require punishment, and when that happens, it will often be your job to make sure that the necessary punishment is served. This can be a tricky situation to be in, but as long as you follow your company’s regulations, you will be fine. Part of it means having the confidence to do it in the first place. Most importantly, however, you should be sure to follow the disciplinary process that your company has. Usually, this means that you give one or two warnings, and then a more serious written warning. However, if it continues, or if they enact gross misconduct, it might mean that you need to fire them. Firing someone is a difficult thing to have to do. Nobody enjoys it, but it is sometimes necessary. If you find yourself in this situation, you might want to do some research into the best approach to take. Take a look at http://www.zenruption.com/zenbusiness/12/16/the-nice-guys-guide-to-firing-someone as a starting point, and consider speaking to your own manager as well. In all likelihood, you will need to have someone else with you during this process anyway, so that should help on your part. Remember to be firm but fair, understanding but unwavering. This is generally the way to avoid anything drastic happening as a result of the firing.
Of course, even more often you will have the pleasure of being able to do exactly the opposite. Being able to reward your employees is one of the most enjoyable parts of the job as a manager – but be careful not to overdo it. When you reward people too easily, it loses its value, and on top of that people begin to trust you less and less. Make sure there is a proper reward system in place, and follow it to the letter.
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