Managing Human Resources in Business

Art by Autumn Qiu for Girls For Business

A business works like a machine. You need all the parts functioning in order to run smoothly and produce results. And while machines may keep working, there’s a big difference between a machine that’s well-oiled and one starting to break down. Like the parts of a machine, employees are the force that make or break a business in terms of quality and functionality, which is why the most important part of business is managing your human resources.

    While management has many facets to it, there are three main C’s to managing employees: Communication, Consistency, and Creating. These three broad categories encompass many important aspects of leadership that will make managing employees a success!

• Communication

1. Maintaining clear communication. Clear communication is vital to the success of the team. Relaying information in a clear, thorough and accurate way is the best approach to making sure your employees know what to do and have the team function smoothly.
2. Communication also means maintaining an open dialogue between the team and yourself. When managing your employees, you want to create a good working environment. One way to do this is by getting to know your subordinates personally; caring and talking to employees will go a long way in making them feel comfortable around you. Creating a comfortable environment means that they will be open to voice their own thoughts, opinions, ideas and criticisms so that the team can keep on improving and changing.
3. Communicate expectations and goals. It’s important for employees to know the expectations they will be held to and the goals for the direction your team will go. Maintaining these expectations and setting goals will unify the team into becoming better as you begin to achieve more together and grow big.

• Consistency

1. Be a consistently good example. As the leader, you have to be consistent in leading by example. Even though you are the one enforcing the expectations and rules for the workplace, you also have to abide by the same standards as everyone else, if not better. In this way your employees will be more inclined to abide by the rules, give you respect as the leader, and become more likely to work better.
2. Be consistent when it comes to rewarding good behavior. When an employee does something good, it should be acknowledged. It should also be something public (i.e. verbal recognition, a note on a community board); in this way, employees will see that performing well and working hard will lead to rewards, and will aim to work hard for recognition. But always remember, rewarding should be without bias, as favoritism within a team builds resentment between members and you.
3. Be consistent in making decisions and assigning roles. As a leader, you are in charge of the direction of the team, which means that you have to decide things in a fast, orderly and correct way. No one wants to follow a hesitant and inconsistent leader who isn’t confident in their direction. Another part of making decisions is assigning roles for each employee. Employers must remember that people don’t all fit the same types of jobs, as people have different aptitudes for different things. Consistently assigning tasks to the people that fit it will make the team work well.

• Creating

1. Create a system for everything. Organization is critical in management because it allows work to run smoothly. Systems allow organization and structure, which is valuable to a team as they get better as a whole. One would want to make a system for:
1. Performance Management and Development
2. Managing time (deadlines, meetings, etc.)
3. Assigning roles and jobs to specific employees
4. Conflict Management between people in your team
5. Expectations and Procedures
6. Disciplinary Actions
7. And much more.
2. Create a good environment. This was emphasized strongly throughout this piece, but it’s such an important part of management. Toxic workplaces detract from productivity, creating tension and resentment that would only lead to more problems internally in the team and externally through work. Maintaining good environments and resolving conflicts as quickly as possible when confronted with them is the way to make sure your business will run smoothly.
1. This was mentioned earlier, but it’s also important to note that motivating employees is a way to keep spirits up! Taking the time to appreciate, provide feedback, or provide incentives creates an engaged and motivated workplace.

    The concept and practice of management is an entity with heaps of hard and complicated parts. In general though, communicating, being consistent and creating important things for the team is essential and fundamental to what an employer will do when managing their human resources and having a successful business