THE IMPORTANCE OF ACTIVELY MANAGING YOUR STAFF

Taking the time to train and mentor your staff can’t be overlooked. There are some people who are self-motivated and naturally ask for more work, get more efficient, and take on more responsibility. Those are rare people. The rest must be trained, helped, and encouraged along the way. But they can shine just as much.

When you hire someone, you are responsible for helping them succeed. We all make bad hiring decisions at one time or another. But if things don’t work out right away, don’t become negative and look only at the problems. Try to seek out solutions.

This starts with having a meeting with your employee. Don’t go into it in attack mode. Have a list of compliments countered with constructive criticism. Couch it in a helpful tone.  For example, for an Accounts Receivable clerk, you might say this: “I noticed you come in early every day and get customer emails answered, which is great. Our customer comes first. But the cash receipts don’t get entered by the 3pm deadline. Is there something I can do to help?  Does something need to be changed?”

You are only going to find solutions by listening and understanding the other person’s perspective. Someone else may be distracting them from their work. Maybe they weren’t properly trained. There could be some personal problems. Get to the root of it.

The two of you should come up with a plan to make improvements. It is critical to get the employee involved in making the plan. Shared responsibility gives them motivation.  Have specific goals and deadlines. Plan to meet every week to see how things are going. When people have a stake in making things better, it gives them a feeling of freedom and empowerment. This is a far better motivator than money.

A person invested in their job will be the first to speak up if they sense a problem because they feel a duty to do things well. You have shown them that you are a good listener and have an open mind. And because you showed that you care and want to help them get better, they will of course come to you and seek out your advice.

I always try to train my staff so well that they could replace me. My relentless efforts to do this have never resulted in me being replaced. Instead I end up going to an even better place. I am seen as the big picture person, the thinker, the solver of problems.

Some people fear losing their jobs if their subordinates are smarter or know more than they do. In my experience these are the kind of people you want to support you. It will allow you to expand your learning horizons, take a longer vacation, or maybe even keep shorter hours. It all works because you know in your absence all critical tasks will be handled.