Master People Management With These Tips
Sep 05, 2023
Regardless of the industry you are in, if you're in business today that means you are in the people business because everything that you do for your customers has to be done through your employees.
- That’s why as a business owner, you must master people management so you can hire and retain the best workforce for your organization and service your customers with a high level of excellence.
But there’s a big challenge with staffing nowadays. That is why many companies are investing money, time, and effort in trying to replace humans with robots. While it is true that the amount of robotics has increased significantly, machines will not replace human beings, at least for a very long time.
For that reason, you need to know how to manage and inspire your people every day so that they are happy at work, do a great job for you, and don't leave. That will help you increase retention and be very effective and efficient at your business.
The starting point for managing people
One of the ways you can become a master at workforce management is by understanding the employee lifecycle, which has eight phases, divided into two moments. The first four belong to the hiring process; the next four are part of the retention.
Managing people requires creating a clear set of policies, processes, and procedures for each of these phases, to hire great people and retain them for the long run. Not only that but also executing them consistently and fairly across all team members.
- Think about it! The longer your employees stay with you, the better your business will operate.
Let’s go through the eight phases of the employee lifecycle and what you need to put in place in each of them to be a great leader for your people.
HIRING
1. Recruiting
Finding the best people for your organization is a very expensive activity so you have to analyze the most effective channels to attract new employees and which strategy gives you the most return.
That’s not necessarily online social media ads. Perhaps you can recruit better by printing an advertisement with the job offer in places around your community or handing out flyers near each of the units where you need staff.
2. Interviewing
This is a time when you or your leaders meet with those who applied for the jobs to identify who the applicants truly are and make the best possible decision, whether it is to invite them to the organization or to end the hiring process.
Doing this particular step with a high level of excellence and knowing exactly how to truly find who the people are, will pay off very much in the next phase of the employee lifecycle.
3. Hiring
This is when you offer the job to the selected applicant and set how the employee-employer relationship is going to be.
This is also where you set the tone of the expectations they must fulfill, so when they say yes, they know what they're committing to.
That’s why you should spend the necessary time at this step, and be as clear as you can, so they understand what their responsibilities will be, what you expect of them, and the results they have to deliver.
4. Onboarding
You have to give your new employee a great first impression.
The goal for the onboarding process is to make sure that at the end of the day, the employee tells their family or friends about the great company they're working for and how happy they are that they said yes to the offer.
If you do not do a good job on their first day, when that employee goes home, they will say something much different. And, if the bad experience continues, they might even think about resigning.
That is why this onboarding phase is so critical: here is where the employee determines whether they made the right choice to join your organization.
RETENTION
5. Training
When the initial onboarding is over, you need to get into the training phase. How this experience happens will determine how capable and confident your employees feel at doing their job. These feelings really influence how long they decide to stay with you.
This has to be done as well as possible so don't cut corners in this area. Especially because your employees have to be properly trained before they move on to the next phase of the employee lifecycle.
6. Recognizing
In this phase you have to inspire and motivate your employees continuously, to increase their engagement and commitment to the company for a long time.
There are certain policies and procedures that you should execute, fairly and consistently across your organization, so that people feel like they matter and they're treated equally among everybody else.
But mind that those employees that do a good job should be rewarded and get more recognition than people that don't perform as they should.
7. Disciplining
The goal of this step is not to terminate people but to give them the opportunity to correct their behavior and guide them professionally so they can get back in tack. It also gives you a chance to remind them what are the expectations of their role.
That’s why this phase is so critical: it allows you to have long-term team members in your organization.
8. Separating
The last phase of the employee lifecycle happens when the employee leaves the organization.
Very few collaborators will stay with you forever. And, as a business owner and leader in your organization, you need to know how to do the separation correctly, with dignity and respect, whether it is voluntary or involuntary.
Especially if your leaders are the ones that do this particular job, you must have the proper policy and a clear procedure in place, to ensure the termination is done the best possible way.
In case you missed it: I have never fired anyone. This is why
As you can see, every one of the phases in the employee lifecycle is important, and each has its own systems you have to develop to have a great performance not only as a leader but in your business’s operations.
If you don't have these procedures, processes, and policies clearly defined and in place, and you would like some help, I invite you to explore our Command Program.
This best-in-class program has been designed specifically to teach franchisees and business owners how to create the required systems for each of the employee lifecycle and a whole lot more.
To learn more about the Command Program, click here or visit www.AFACommand.com
I hope this was of value to you and made you think about the employee lifecycle in your organization, so you can implement some of these strategies to master your people management.
To get more tips on what you can do to thrive and succeed in your franchise, follow us on all the social platforms, including our YouTube channel and podcast.
Reflections:
- Do you have all of these processes and procedures clearly defined?
- Are these systems documented?
- Do you keep track of how much money you spend on finding the best people for your organization?
- How are you correcting bad behavior to get your employees back on track?
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