Managing staff in your small business

If you are somewhat new to having responsibility for managing and overseeing the work of others, it can initially prove quite daunting.

As the business owner, you have a vested interest in the success of the business and keeping your customers happy. And you hope to engender some of that same commitment in your staff.

You may perhaps already have noticed that sme of your employees seem to have good days, and not-so-good days. Your role now as a manager of people is to -
1. Ensure your staff understand what is expected of them
2. Ensure they have received adequate training in your processes and procedures
3. Motivate them, by ensuring you recognise good work. This may be as simple as saying "Well done" when you've seen them display some good customer service. Or it could mean rewarding them with a small bonus or some movie tickets if they volunteered to work back late or work through their lunchtime, in order to complete a task.

Remember too, that your behaviour and attitude affects morale in your workplace. It is important that you set the right example to your staff and that you display the enthusiasm, optimism and positive energy that you expect of them.

Now I know very well that as a small business owner, there are times of uncertainty in the life of a business that can create stress and anxiety for you. However, you need to ensure that you find ways of refreshing and rejuventating your personal motivation, so you can provide your staff with the leadership they need. You might find Self-Motivation Keys offer some useful tips on this theme.

If you're based in Melbourne, and think it would help to attend some leadership training to develop your people management skills, have a look at Management Course Melbourne

And here's a short clip offering some tips on managing and motivating staff

Performance management of staff in your small business

If you manage a small business and have staff working for you, then you've probably already found that motivating and managing some people can be a huge challenge - and often quite frustrating.

Performance management cycle

However some of the problems that we might experience with staff performance are through our own making. As small business managers, we sometimes make too many assumptions that our staff understand our expectations and have the training to do what we want them to do.

The performance management cycle is a nice simple reminder of some of the important stages in staff performance management

1. Performance planning is about preparing the employee for the work you want them to do. It includes ensuring that right from the very beginning, a new employee has a clear understanding of the scope of their job and that you have clearly explained what is expected of them. It's also about ensuring that any new staff member receives adequate training necessary for using any systems or complying with procedures that are associated with performance of the duties in their job. Many managers unfortunately often neglect to invest enough time in this stage, because they assume that it's all too obvious ..... They forget it's only obvious because of the greater experience and familiarity they have with the various tasks in the workplace.  But performance planning can also refer to the weekly or even daily outcomes that you might set for your staff. Again, it is essential to ensure that any performance or work plan is reasonable (ie. achievable) - and that the employee has been equipped with the training, tools and resources needed to meet the performance expectations.
2. Performance tracking is about keeping an eye of the progress of the employee - and checking that things are getting done properly. Monitoring and occasionally observing, yet without being intrusive nor seen as too distrusting. With a new employee we will need to be checking on the quality and timeliness of their work more frequently than say an experienced staff member, because we should be able to feel more confident in  our senior employees.
3. Performance feedback is about providing the employee with recognition for good work and showing them that their efforts are being noticed. Sometimes constructive feedback may need to be provided however, if there are job requirements that are not being quite met. This might be a reminder that they need to take care with a particular procedure, or a reminder about what time they need to be back from lunch, or a reminder to take more care when filling out a form....... Sometimes people make mistakes - hey, we're all human. The important thing is that we help the employee learn from it, so that it's not repeated.
4. Formal performance review is sitting down with the employee on a quarterly basis, over a coffee, and having a conversation about their performance - what's been going well and whether there may be areas that could be improved. There are many businesses that incorporate some documentation around this, particularly for the more comprehensive annual review. The annual review will assess employee performance on each of their key responsibilities and identify whether these have been performed to a competent or acceptable standard. The annual review can also include a conversation about the employee's longer term career development aspirations. Although a small business may have some limitations upon progression opportunities for their staff, it is never-the-less useful for their manager to be aware of staff ambitions. This is because there can sometimes be opportunity to enrich the employee's current job and possibly provide them with more of the challenge they may be seeking. But in doing so, you need to also ensure that your employees are being fairly rewarded for good work

In a positive sense, an effective performance management process will help to ensure open lines of communication between a manager and their employees - thereby avoiding confusion and preventing misunderstandings about what is expected.

In the worst case scenario, a formal performance management process maintains an audit trail in the event that an employee is performing unsatisfactorily and may need to be dismissed. There will be some written record that a manager has previously raised performance concerns with the employee and made reasonable attempts to secure performance improvement

Keeping good staff

No doubt you want to keep your good staff ..... They show initiative, they're reliable and they're capable. Right? ...... You've come to rely upon them and trust them. So just be careful that you don't take them for granted. Show them that you appreciate their efforts - and make sure that they are being duly rewarded.

Why do staff resign? ...... Surveys show the most common reasons include a poor relationship with their immediate manager, poor working conditions, conflict within the team, lack of job satisfaction with their actual work (no longer challenging) and finding a similar job that requires less travel or offers much higher wages. Although people say their salary is important, in influencing their levels of job satisfaction, many people say they place higher importance upon the quality of their working relationships, the opportunity for learning and growth - and also whether they find their work "meaningful".

Effective performance management will help you to both retain good staff, as well help you to identify staff that simply might not be a good "fit" for your business.

Also have a look at Management Skills Development for further suggestions and ideas on how to manage and motivate the performance of your staff.

About the author

Brian Carroll is the founder of a corporate training and leadership development company, Performance Development, based in Melbourne, Australia.  He is a qualified psychologist, experienced management coach and an engaging presenter, with a passion for helping people achieve their full potential

To grow your business, you've got to get the people management stuff right

If your goal is to grow and expand your business, then one of the skills you may need to further dvelop is learning how to manage and motivate the staff who work with you.

• It all starts with finding the right people

As your business grows, you find that continued success is less about you and more about the quality of the team that you have surrounded yourself with.

Hopefully, you have taken time and care in recruiting the right people. There can often be a temptation during times of business growth to rush and just get the job filled with anyone

But it's not just about the skills and experience a person might bring to your business, it's also about their personal qualities. Very likely, you  look for people who seem to possess a good work ethic, appear capable of showing some initiative and have a friendly disposition, so they will get along both with your customers and their co-workers.

• Make sure new staff are properly trained

Frequently over the years, I have seen too many business owners and managers neglect the importance of ensuring that adequate time is allocated to properly training their new staff. They seem to forget that what is easy for them is completely foreign to their new employee.

The first 3 to 4 weeks for a new employee is a critical time in determining whether they form good working habits and develop a sound grasp of your procedures and any computer systems. It is a period where they can become overwhelmed if too much is expected of them too quickly. So plan to gradually introduce them to the various parts of their role so they can digest what they need to learn. Explain where things fit into the bigger picture of the business - and try to be patient when answering their questions.

You will be better served by investing adequate time in getting their initial training right in this first month. Otherwise you run the risk of more time being taken up later in having to correct mistakes and explain things again. Even after the first month of training has been completed, make sure you keep an eye on how they are travelling, and continue to offer feedback and any suggestions to support them

By the third month with your business, you will usually know if things are going to work out with the new employee and whether your selection decision was a good one or not . And if things aren;t working out, then make a clean break. Don't prolong the misery - just make sure that you exit the person graciously.

Quite often the person will realise themselves that the "fit" isn't right. That their skills and interests don't match the requirements of the job. In no way is it about them as a peson. A frank conversation will sometimes surface that they aren't happy in the job, it wasn't what they expected and maybe you can point them towards something that could be better suited to them.

• Getting the best out of your staff

Assuming then that you have built a solid foundation for the growth of your business by recruiting the right people, and having trained them properly - then how do you now get the best out of them?

For one thing, make sure you are paying them adequately. Keep track of the wages your competition might be paying, if you want to stand any chance of retaining good people. Also, think about other ways of rewarding good work from employees ..... whether it is movie tickets or a complimentary dinner for them and their partner at a local restaurant, or team drinks at the end of the week. When people have performed well, show them you've noticed.

When an employee goes over-and-above their usual duties to satisfy a customer - make sure it's recognised. Feeling un-appreciated is a common reason for employees to look for another job.

But money isn't everything - although it's still important to people.

Just as important as salary to many people is the quality of working relationships they have with their boss and their co-workers. Does your workplace seem to generally be a happy place to be? Do you encourage some camaraderie in the team - a bit of a laugh now and then?

Surveys of what motivates people at work have shown that people want to feel that their boss listens to them and respects their ideas and concerns. When was the last time you asked your staff whether they had any thoughts on how service could be improved to customers? Or asked them if there was anything that could help them perform their jobs more efficiently?

• Improving your management skills

So, how do you get better at the people management stuff?

Well, for one thing you might consider attending a short management course to refresh some of your core skills in leadership, delegation, coaching, time management and communication. If this appeals to you, have a look at Management Course Melbourne or Management Course Sydney

Another strategy is to network with other small business owners in your local community and exchange ideas and experiences around people management. For example, you might discover they've tried some type of staff incentive program to reward high performance.

But above all, if you want to continue to improve your ability to manage people, then you need to take some time to reflect. By itself, experience is not necessarily a teacher ...... Instead, it is reflecting upon and reviewing your experiences that will determine whether you learn from them.

When all is said and done, becoming a better manager is about growing as a person.  Developing your self-awareness is essential if you are going to be able to get the best out of yourself and the people around you. Don't know about you, but for me - it remains very much a work-in-progress. Good luck!