What is people management?

People management refers to overseeing the development, motivation, concerns and purpose of employees. Similar to how a management team is responsible for promoting a company’s success, people management aims to promote the well-being and success of its employees. A human resources department often supports employees in terms of professional development and compensation, but soft skills are important for people management too. These skills are necessary for an employer or a manager of a department. They might be expressed by how you build connections, communicate expectations and provide feedback to employees.

Why is people management important?

While it’s easy to focus on the growth objectives and success of your business, it’s important to remember each employee who helps your business get there. Employees each have unique needs and potential, and supporting them helps them make greater contributions to the business. Studies show that happier employees are up to 20% more productive than unhappy ones, and employee happiness comes from feeling valued and engaged in the workplace.

Good people management can:

• Align the goals of the business and its employees
• Improve productivity
• Develop highly skilled employees
• Promote employee loyalty
• Reduce stress and improve employee well-being
• Boost motivation and morale

People management tips for employers

If you’ve been focused on running your business or managing the goals of your department, you may not be sure how to manage people. These tips can help you improve your people management skills.

1. Build trust and connection through listening

When employees have concerns, issues or ideas, simply hearing them isn’t enough. In addition to engaging with your employee, which means paying attention, taking notes and giving them ample opportunity to speak, you need to approach conversations with an open mindset. This helps build more meaningful connections and consequently stronger trust.

Approaching conversations openly is a type of emotional intelligence. Even if you’re more educated or knowledgeable about the topic, you should listen to employees as though hearing about it for the first time. Don’t make assumptions or jump to conclusions. Give your employees an accepting space to voice their ideas and concerns. By listening, you’re validating their insight and building a sense of reciprocated trust. Even if employees don’t always initiate or pursue the conversation, try to anticipate and understand when employees need extra support. This trust helps employees take more ownership and perform their work with improved confidence.

2. Clearly communicate expectations

Efficient employees have a clear idea of their tasks and responsibilities. Poorly communicating expectations, however, leads to confused employees and an inefficient workflow. As a manager or employer, it’s your job to set and communicate expectations early and often. Provide your employee with expectations for responsibilities, priorities, guidelines and boundaries. Make sure employees are aware of performance and milestone goals.

As employees inevitably have questions and concerns, provide them with support and answers as much as possible without micromanaging. When you communicate the importance of tasks or goals to employees, they can have a better understanding of their role in business operations. This is especially important for remote employees, who don’t always have a manager directly overseeing their activities.

Ongoing clear communication allows employees to perform their duties more efficiently and may help with retention rates. Even if nothing appears wrong, check in with employees on a regular basis. This helps you anticipate future issues, but it also lets employees know where to go when they encounter a problem.

3. Distinguish personal and organizational problems

Workplace problems within a business can usually be categorized as either organizational or personal. Organizational problems affect all business employees and can appear as any of the following:

• Poor workplace culture leads to a negative or hostile team dynamic
• Lack of structural employee development and training
• Workflow or process issues
• Inadequately managed workloads

Personal problems are related more to the needs of individual employees. They may be struggling with their individual workload or feel dissatisfied with their career growth or development. Pay attention to the root cause of an employee’s problem to accurately determine whether it’s personal or organizational. If there are no relevant underlying organizational issues, then the problem is likely personal. For example, if an employee has a poor relationship with a coworker, investigate whether the workplace culture or dynamic is a contributing factor. If it’s not, then the problem is personal. By distinguishing between personal and organizational problems, you can more accurately find a solution. Whereas organizational problems may require more complex solutions and restructuring, personal problems can be resolved through people management strategies.

4. Empathize with and understand employee satisfaction

Each employee has a unique purpose or motivation that attracted them to their current role. This refers to the way a person finds connection and derives satisfaction from their role. Employees who find purpose in their roles are more satisfied and better aligned with the business’s goals. This makes it important to pay close attention to the unique drivers for each individual.

To identify these drivers, take a look at which aspects of their role an employee is more successful or happy in. Employees in similar roles may have different competencies, for example, one salesperson is excellent with new customers while another is better at retaining current customers. You can encourage them in those aspects by providing similar work and opportunities. Alternatively, try to understand why an employee may be less successful or happy in other aspects. You might adjust their role to include fewer of those responsibilities or instead choose to implement development measures to improve their performance and connection to those tasks.

5. Practice meaningful feedback by celebrating wins

Employee development isn’t just about identifying and criticizing areas of weakness. People also benefit from positive reinforcement or praise for their successes or contributions. Too much criticism demoralizes employees, while too much praise becomes meaningless. The best feedback strategy is one that includes the right balance of praise and criticism. Research suggests that positive reinforcement can help well-performing employees improve even more, while negative reinforcement is useful when employees are significantly underperforming.

Understand when and how to deliver praise. If an employee effort leads to a praiseworthy success or contribution, recognize it right away. This will help the employee associate feelings of connection and accomplishment with positive feedback. Recognition or praise might include bonuses, public praise or tokens. Employees who are recognized for their achievements also become more confident and motivated in their work, leading to a cycle of improved work quality.

Criticism, likewise, should be delivered in a timely manner while the issue is still relevant. Rather than simply pointing out what the employee did incorrectly, you should identify the underlying issue and how your employee can correct it. If the individual followed a process incorrectly, for example, this may indicate a need for additional training. Implementing this form of constructive feedback shows your employee you’re there to support them and their success.

6. Encourage feedback to give employees a voice

Just as you expect employees to be open to feedback to improve how your business functions, you should also be open to feedback. Because your performance relates directly to the performance of your employees, any weaknesses or strengths in your work will be reflected in the work of your employees. Employees, however, may need encouragement to approach you with feedback. Whenever you end an important conversation, give them a safe space to voice feedback by asking if they’d like to discuss anything else. You can even specifically ask if they have any feedback for you.

By giving employees a voice, you demonstrate accountability for your performance as an employer or manager. By hearing their feedback, you get firsthand insight into your own weaknesses and strengths. Taking accountability helps your employees see that you care about how your team feels, reinforcing trust in management. Employees also recognize when their employer takes accountability for their work, which motivates them to reciprocate the effort. This leads to improved workflow and performance for both employers and employees, therefore supporting the overall success of the business.

7. Spread positivity to promote a healthy workplace culture

As an employer or manager, it’s on you to lead the workplace culture. If you show up at work with low morale or high stress levels, then that attitude will spill over to the employees around you. Instead, boost morale and motivation and reduce stress by promoting and exemplifying a positive attitude. Positivity is contagious, so employees will mirror your attitude and create an overall healthier workplace culture.

To bring more positivity into the workplace, try offering incentives, awards or bonuses for reaching milestones or goals. Incorporate friendly competitions, such as sales target contests, with recognition and rewards for winners. Small gestures such as coffee or lunch treats and social gatherings can also show employees they’re appreciated and valued. Encourage friendship among team members, as studies show that work friendships can boost employee satisfaction by 50% and drive employee engagement. Most importantly, lead workplace positivity by personal example.