(Uk franchise businesses) A Deeper Look at People Management
By Jewell Hardin
Your employees are the biggest asset you have. Their performance and attitude can result in the success or failure of your business. The most difficult part of any manager’s job is people management. He or she is required to lead, motivate, train, inspire, and encourage. On the other hand, he or she is also responsible for hiring, firing, disciplining, training and evaluating. These functions seem to be at odds, but a successful manager can integrate both the positive and negative aspects of these tasks to create a positive, productive work force.
People management, also known as human resource management (HRM), encompasses the tasks of recruitment, management, and providing ongoing support and direction for the employees of an organization. These tasks can include the following: compensation, hiring, performance management, organization development, safety, wellness, benefits, employee motivation, communication, administration, and training.
When managing the people within an organization, a manager must focus on both hiring the right people and then getting the most out of these people. New personnel must provide the organization with the best talent available that meets the needs of the business. The organization must look ahead to how a new employee can be used to their fullest. Getting the most out of an employee means a business has consistent policies and practices in place to provide its people with appropriate training and development. Employees are involved as “partners” in the business.
Probably the most important task a manager will face when dealing with the people under his direction is that of bringing out the best in them. Unlocking people potential is often seen as the key to any business’s success. When an employee’s talents are not channeled correctly, their behavior can seriously compromise the success of an organization. Some of the roles that an employee who is not being used to his potential can take on are as follows: procrastinator, martyr, gossip, manipulator, backstabber, narcissist, a deer in the headlights, black hole, stonewalled, curmudgeon, bully, and predator.
Instead of dealing with employees that develop defense mechanisms to mask their dissatisfaction with their work situation, let’s look as some ways to encourage effective behavior at work. After a problem behavior has been identified, address the employee immediately. Discuss taking responsibility for the ineffective behavior, how the behavior manifests itself, and the effect the behavior is having on the organization. Next, give the employee alternatives to his current behavior. In other words, teach him or her how the principles of achievement:
cooperation
respect
self-motivation
trust
self-discipline
Now that the employee has alternatives to their current behavior, draw up a performance improvement contract in which he or she agrees to specific actions to change his or her ineffective behavior. After the contract is signed, a manager needs to stay involved and committed to the process of change. He or she cannot assume that the problem will be automatically fixed now that it has been brought to light. The employee will require praise and reinforcement of any progress that they are able to make. If positive change is to occur, it will be evident soon after the initial confrontation. If this does not occur, a termination meeting must be scheduled quickly. One employee’s toxic behavior can quickly spread throughout an organization if it is not dealt with quickly and efficiently.
When evaluating an organization’s workforce, there are several areas that must be addressed. First, the staff must have the tools and resources that they need to do their jobs effectively. Employees cannot be blamed for an organization’s inefficiency if they are not provided with the equipment necessary to perform adequately. Next, get to know each employee as an individual and make sure that they are aware of their specific role within the organization. Clarify their responsibilities and goals. Also, involve each employee in making decisions which affect their area of expertise. This will result in the employee feeling that they “have a say” in what goes on in the organization and he or she will feel a sense of ownership. Finally, make sure that employees have an opportunity to have fun with their coworkers at appropriate times.
People Empowerment can be a very effective tool within the field of people management. This technique can be used to involve employees in any improvement program within an organization. Authority, accountability, and responsibility are delegated to the employees for improving the processes which are under their control without first having to obtain permission from management before making changes. This can be successful only when employees are recognized, congratulated, and rewarded for their commitment to problem solving.
Visit the Knowledge Galaxy website to learn about good engagement gifts, engagement gift etiquette, engagement presents, how to dye hair, hair dying tips , hair dye care and other information.
The Top Franchise Listings And Reviews Online
What Goes Into a Good Business Plan?
By Jonathan Rojas
Writing a business plan can be a lot of hard work or it can be great fun. An effective plan can help your company to greatness. A poor one can lead you out of business. No plan is like asking to fail before you even start.
Not every business needs a 200 page bound business plan. However every business needs to have some idea of where they want to go and how they are going to get there. This article covers some key insights into writing a business plan that get your business to where you want to be.
The first stage of any plan is ANALYSIS. You need to take a very objective look at a number of factors that may impact your business. There are many factors to consider but the two major ones are competition and your operating environment.
Let’s look first at competition. Every business has competition, even if you think your product or service is unique. How is this? Well it’s quite simple really, people have choices to make. The most fundamental choice they make in most cases is whether to buy what you offer or but something else. For example I could buy a game console or I could buy groceries instead. Customers only have so much money available so you first task is to ask yourself what is my competition like and can I beat them? The more you understand your competition the more you can develop your business strategy of being different and outperforming them.
Now let’s look at operating environment. This is understanding what factors around your area of operation are likely to affect your business performance. For some companies this includes looking around the World in other cases it’s just your local neighbourhood. You need to ask questions such as:
How is the economy going?
What is consumer confidence like?
Where is technology heading in my industry?
After answering all the questions you need to decide how these might negatively or positively influence your performance.
Now you know more about your competition and operating environment it’s time to set some OBJECTIVES. This is what you want to achieve in the period your business plan covers. It is said that good objectives are SMART. That is specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and targeted. Here’s an example of a SMART objective for a hypothetical business.
“By the end of this year we will have increased sales of product X by 7.5% over the previous year.”
You can see how clear this objective is. It is much easier to achieve high performance with clear objectives.
Now you need to outline your STRATEGY. How are you going to reach you objective(s)? This is where your marketing plan often comes in as it helps describe the programs you will run to achieve your desired objective(s). To continue the example above our strategy may be to gain distribution for our product in one new major retail chain.
To make your strategy work you must then allocate appropriate RESOURCES. Certain things will need to be provided to reach your goal. This could be dollars, people, equipment, etc. Your plan must have included the resources you are allocating and why you believe this is adequate to get the result.
Every business plans also has some PROJECTIONS. This is your basic financials that you plan will deliver. Are you expecting a profit or loss? How much?
Lastly you need to allow for CONTINGENCIES. Things change all the time and your plan needs to consider these possibilities in advance. A good way to do this is to ask What if?
What if a new competitor enters our market?
What if a distributor delists our product?
What if interest rates rise?
Your analysis should give you some idea of likely contingencies. It saves a lot of stress if you have some documented ideas for dealing with them before they become a big problem.
Writing a business plan is never perfect, the plan is on paper and you’re operating in the real world. However a good plan can really guide you in the right direction. Take time to put real thought into preparing your plan an above all make sure you USE YOUR PLAN!
For tips on types of begonias, rieger begonia, tuberous begonias, white roses, single white rose, meaning of roses and other information, visit the Gardening Central website.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.











Leave a Reply