Business
The Ups-And-Downs Of Dealing With Your Employees
The team is vital to the effectiveness of the business. That much is clear. There’s a lot that you can do to make the human resources in your company a serious asset. But there’s also a lot of risk that comes with each and every person that comes into the business. Maintaining a positive workplace while negating the risk that those individuals pose. That is the tightrope than an employer has to walk. Here are a few ways to walk it a little better.
Make sure you’re satisfying their needs
If you’re treating your employees like they’re simply there to provide labour, you’re thinking about them wrong. Everyone has needs from their job. Beyond pay and benefits, they are all on a part of their own journey. Connecting their journey to that of the business’s is going to resolve a lot of headaches. Goal-setting to get them on-side and engaged with the business is a start. If they understand the objectives of a whole and how it relates to their workload, they’re more likely to be invested in it. Just as you need the individual invested in the business, get the business invested in them. Make sure they all have development plans, teaching them skills that provide them with upward mobility. When they lack that, they’ll look for it elsewhere.
Know their rights
Retention is important in a business, as hiring and training more employees is costly business. But even more costly is the legal costs that can come when you fail to respect and fulfil your obligations to the right of employees. You need to make sure that you have a code of conduct in the business that encompasses all those obligations. From health & safety methods to disputes and terminations. If employees start a legal dispute, these codes of conduct can help you in showing that you’re fulfilling your end of the bargain. Should it come to the worst, it’s a good idea to have tribunal representation to help you fight your corner.
Keep your eye on the ball
While making sure you respect them and their needs and rights, they need to respect you. They need to respect that they’re there to do their job. To make sure they’re fulfilling their end of the bargain, you should be measuring their productivity. Use key performance indicators to measure their productivity on a regular basis. It helps develop a shared language that you can use to communicate what improvements you expect from them. It also gives you an objective look at who is pulling their weight and who isn’t. With the data in front of you, it becomes a lot easier showing the justification for things like reprimanding and termination. Without the justification, you’re inviting more disputes.
It’s important to be aware of the benefits your people bring even when you’re protecting your business from them. Make sure they’re valued and engaged in their work. Don’t openly display mistrust or make disagreements public. Protecting the business is important but having a cohesive team is vital.
