5 Steps To Becoming A Great People Manager

Getting your aces in their places takes lots of organizational and interpersonal skills. You need to be great at reading people, talking to them, and devising plans that are effective and productive. 

Don't worry. If you don't feel you tick these boxes at the moment, they can be learned. As long as you create a structure within your workplace, you can become an effective people manager and get the best from your team.

Hire The Best For The Job

Excellent people management starts with hiring the right people. Getting these workers into your team is not always a case of seeing who has the most qualifications, who is the most amiable person, or who held the best job elsewhere. While these are still helpful, much of it can come down to attitude. You can only uncover this by planning a robust recruitment process that allows the applicant to demonstrate their abilities in several ways. You need to set your recruitment process up in a manner that appropriately catches the best talent, and that looks at using the right method of doing this. 

Some people don't respond well to interviews, while others thrive. Picking someone because of how well they interviewed may not mean you are getting the right person. Therefore, you may want to consider a variety of stages with a more practical assessment or work trial included. 

You need to consider all of the desired qualities before you design the interview. Having a skill and personality style checklist can help you get the right person.

Training Your Team

Not giving your team the correct training and support is not only an injustice to them, but it is also a disservice to your business. You need to ensure that your staff has the relevant skills and ongoing support that they need to complete the job. 

The productivity of your team relies on the thoroughness of your training program. When it comes to designing and delivering this, think about every aspect of the role that they need to understand. Find ways of communicating all of these facts in a number of different ways. Some people will learn through visuals or reading about it, others learn by doing. Understanding learning styles will help you deliver the best training. At every stage of the training process, you should check to ensure your trainee has fully understood the information.

Planning For Performance

Knowing how and when to use your team is crucial. If you have tasks coming up that need specific skills, then you will need to get the right person in place to cover this task. 

Creating schedules is vital as it helps you to work out your staffing needs, and it lets your team know when and where you want them. One option available to help you to manage this is Sling free employee scheduling software. 

Managing Performance

If someone doesn't have a clear aim or objective, it's very unlikely that they're going to hit them. Having an idea of where you'd like your workforce to be aiming will be the only way that you can get them to achieve those goals.

Setting targets on any key areas of your business performance is vital. Be sure and make all of your goals specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound. If they are not attainable, then your team will quickly become demotivated.

Communication is very important when it comes to targets. You need to let your team know what they are aiming for and how to get there. Check-in with them regularly to give them feedback and review their progress in hitting their goals.

Ongoing Support

The work does not stop once someone is through your door, trained, and on the schedule. You will need to talk with your team often about their performance. If they are doing well, let them know. If there is room for improvement, discuss how they can make the necessary changes, and agree on a set of goals and a timeframe and plan for getting there. Your team's performance is not all down to them. You need to offer them training and support in their continued development. Ensure you know what they need from you and follow through on these things.

Being supportive should not just end with training. If your team members are unhappy about anything, then it will affect their productivity and ability to do their job effectively. Therefore, it is in your best interests to look after their emotional well-being.