How to Manage People Effectively

I recently met up with a friend of mine who was telling me how little time he had working on his business due to the people problems he was constantly experiencing.

He always complains to me that if he could run his business on his own, he would. Unfortunately this is not a reality so he constantly wastes at least 50% of his working week trying to overcome staff issues.

The problem with Gary is that he's a 'know it all'. He likes to do things his own way and believes that having been in business for 15 years, he knows all about recruitment.

The reality is the opposite. He's very disorganised, works long hours and wouldn't have the time to pro-actively look after his people. Sure he's a nice guy and that's probably why some of his staff hang around, but the chaos he would cause in his business would be too much for most people to handle.

Gary doesn't 'get it' that he's the source of his problems. He has to learn how to free up his time so he can focus on the people issues. Of course I'm the best person to help him but I've learnt that it's not always a good idea working with friends and family.

There are many aspects involved with the recruitment process and then when you've found the right people you need to know how to keep them so they remain a valuable asset in your business.

I'm constantly amazed about how little most business owners (and most people for that matter) know and really understand about others. To have the right people on board with you, there are so many areas you need to know about including personality styles, values, attitude, their strengths and weaknesses. You cannot afford to get it wrong.

Studies by the U.S. Department of Labour revealed that a poor hiring process can cost your business 30% of the first year's earnings, and this loss can be even higher if not corrected within 6 months (Abbasi & Hollman 2000). So if your business makes $100,000, then this could represent $33,000 in lost profits by hiring the wrong people!

Here's another interesting statistic: Staff who receive formal training can be 230% more productive than untrained colleagues (Return on Investment in Training, Smith A. 2001), and top performing employees deliver 12 times the value of mid level performers (Aberdeem Group Report 2001).

So what does this all mean to you?

It means you cannot afford to 'wing it' when it comes to recruitment. You need to get organised so you can free up your time to manage this key area of your business. Getting feedback from your people would also be an eye-opener to how they see you. In fact I've developed a very powerful tool that allows your team to provide anonymous feedback about you.

It does take courage on your part to face the real truth. The results of this proven program "The Powerful Productivity and Leadership Profile" is guaranteed to pinpoint key areas that you'll need to address to increase the productivity of your team and in turn will boost your profits.
Of course you can just ask them what they think about you, however it's highly unlikely you'll hear the truth... and even if you received honest feedback, you will then need to know how to overcome the problems.

So here's 6 simple ways to manage your people more effectively:

1. Weekly team meetings

2. Train and develop them constantly (both internally and send them off to external
programs)

3. Get coached and keep developing yourself.

4. Plan time regularly to focus on your people

5. Get feedback from your team

6. Get organised... otherwise you have no hope of having a high performing team and
keeping them

The Final Word

You can get on top of people problems, if you learn how to attract and retain them. When you have a high performing team and know how to manage them effectively, you'll be much more happier, more productive and more profitable.