No one is born knowing how to manage people; it's an acquired skill. But with a little guidance, you can create an effective "people strategy."
While many entrepreneurs are great at delivering their product or service and coming up with new ideas, they will readily admit that managing people doesn’t come naturally. As an entrepreneur, if you have people working for you, you need an effective "people strategy."
Think strategically
Your strategy should encompass developing, communicating and enforcing a set of policies and practices that reflect your standards of acceptable behaviour. It should reflect your core values, your company's mission, and your personal vision. It should provide your people with the right tools to respond to specific questions. For example, do you have an employee handbook or a policy guide? What about regular training in company policies and practices, or easy-to-use forms to guide them on particular issues?
This is more than simply a Mission Statement. This will become the centre of your operations manual, and provide the nucleus of how your company is perceived by others when you are not available to deal with customers or clients personally. If you trust others enough to interpret your vision, for your own sense of security, you must instil in your employees the true "essence" of what your business is really all about.
How do HR issues affect my business?
Without specific HR guidelines in place, you may end up spending unproductive hours dealing with people issues instead of focusing on moving your business forward. As well, you are a greater risk for litigation. With human nature being what it is, employees will test limits and make up their own creative answers to different workplace situations.
Connect the dots (bring your business plan and people plan in synch)
- Connect your people plan with your business strategy. If you run a restaurant and you plan on opening three more establishments (your business plan) and have experienced some hiring problems for cooks, then you might want to consider hiring some apprentice cooks (people plan)
- How will your business mission and values align with your hiring process? For example: If excellent customer service is a value you hold dear, how will you recruit for people who have demonstrated this value in the past?
- Policy development is essential, if others are to interpret your vision on your behalf. Be consistent
Reward and recognize; performance management
- Your reward and recognition programs must be coordinated. If productivity and efficiency are hallmarks of your business competitiveness, how will your R&R system recognize and reward behaviours that align to this aspect of your business?
- Your performance management system might need a tune-up. If you have identified safety as a key component for your business success, what training will you provide employees so that they are properly equipped to work safely?
Define "culture"
Culture can be defined as the culmination of the day to day behaviours of people. As your business functions on a daily basis, a "culture" will be created—the question is, is it the culture you want? By having and managing your business and people plan effectively, and recognizing your own personal role as a leader, you are better able to shape the culture to the way you want it to be.
Learn to delegate
Entrepreneurs sometimes have a hard time letting go of tasks and responsibilities. As your business grows, learning to delegate will allow both you and your employees to use time effectively and focus your efforts appropriately.
Obligation