The Most Valuable Roles In Your Organization

February 28, 2020

Whatever kind of a business you happen to run, you have to accept that one of the most important resources you have is your people. As long as you have the right people on board, you will find that you are able to get your business where you want it to go, and that you are going to have much more of a chance of real success along the way. But as well as knowing this, you might want to think about which roles within your organization are the most important. That can help you to appreciate those people more, and to be more inspired to ensure that they are getting all of the help and resources they need to do their jobs well. So what are the most valuable roles in your organization?

Managers

First and foremost, any managers that you have in various parts of the business are obviously hugely important. You need to make sure that you are communicating with these people well, and more often than with anyone else in the company. As long as you know that they are being upfront with you about what is going on, you will be able to enjoy running your business all the more, and that is obviously something that is important for anyone. And when it comes to hiring people into managerial roles, you are going to want to look for certain qualities above all to ensure that they are suited to the role.

What are those qualities? Most of all, you want someone who is able to lead people confidently and easily, and who has a good eye for what kinds of improvements need to take place at any one time. You also want to make sure that these people are trustworthy, that you know you can get good information from them at any time you need to. And you want them to be forward-thinking, and to do whatever they can to bring about a better company for you. If you can find people to do all that, you are going to be in a very good position with your business indeed.

Remember that it is often a good way to promote people within your business to these roles – they know the business well, generally, and it shows that it is possible to get ahead working for you, which is a real boon to everyone else who sees it happening.

Project Leaders

As well as the general managers, you are also going to have the project leaders or project managers, and these people are also incredibly essential for the proper running of the business. With good project leaders, you can make sure that each and every specific project you carry out is going to go to plan as well as possible, and that is going to add up to make your business considerably more successful in the long run too. So what are you going to want to look for in a good project leader?
Because this is a specific kind of role that has certain tasks embedded in it, you should consider trying to find someone who is trained in project management specifically. That could mean, for instance, that they have taken a pmp course. If you can find someone of that calibre, that will be great news for your projects, and you will find that the knock-on effect of having that person on board is going to be huge. You also need to find someone who is able to have a keen eye for what needs improving in any specific project, and who is someone you feel you can work with easily enough. If you can make sure of that, you are going to be in a much better position indeed, and that is something to be glad for.

HR Manager

Because your staff are so important, it shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise that the person who looks after all of your staff is one of the most important people amongst them. This person will ultimately be responsible for the general management of people, including making sure that they are being paid properly and on time, looking after holiday pay and timetabling, ensuring the right to work laws are followed, and much else besides. It is a varied and complex role which takes on board a range of things, and very often it requires someone of a very particular type to make it work.

That person will generally be good with people, for obvious reasons, but also a strong mathematician and keenly literate. They should also have a good sense of fair play and what is right and wrong in the workplace, as well as a full understanding of the rules and laws surrounding employees generally. Finding a good HR manager can frankly be quite tough, but you can improve your chances by seeking someone who is fully qualified in that area, or who has a lot of experience in doing it in the past. Because of the nature of the role, this is one position where you might prefer to hire from outside the company, rather than promoting internally.

Law Advisor

One of the biggest problems that companies face is that they often end up getting in trouble with the law by accident. That can happen much easier than you might think, especially if it is your first business, for the simple fact that there are so many laws and regulations that you might not be fully aware of. Having a law advisor on board is therefore hugely helpful in ensuring that you are keeping your business within the law, and it is a role that you should seek to fill as early on as possible. You might even want to have someone there permanently, so that you can make sure that you are going to take the law seriously.

With these roles in place, your business is going to be a much more successful one, and will be run much better.

Mark Asquith

That British podcast guy, Mark is co-founder of Captivate.fm, the world's only growth-oriented podcast host. A Harvard, TEDx, Podcast Movement and Podfest speaker (amongst many more!), he's a wildly approachable Brit and Star Wars/DC Comics geek.

Learn podcasting
in your own time

Listen to the
free podcast

The free, thrice-weekly show that brings you podcast education, industry insights & straight-talking reactions to podcasting news. This short-form show typically runs for between 7 and 15 minutes and releases every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Usually a solo show, every now and then, the show features expert podcast industry guests and release bonus episodes as the podcast industry continues to grow and develop.