Effective Management
Posted on 8th February 2023 at 11:23
What makes a good boss? Most of us have some idea of what a bad manager looks like (usually from personal experience), but what could managers do differently to make sure they are being as effective as possible? This month, we think about why good management is important, and outline some key qualities we think makes a successful manager.
Why is good management important?
It can be tempting to think, if you hire the right employees, the management of them can take a back seat. If you have good employees that can manage their own time and tasks, why should leaders worry about employee management?
The key issues here are employee motivation and retention. Good management keeps communication channels clearly open between employees and line managers. This means employees know exactly where they can go for support in their role, clarity on their tasks and who to go to with any issues or concerns. If employees feel supported and listened to by their managers, this increases their motivation and sense of well-being at work. For employers, that means a higher retention rate of good staff, which in turn leads to more productive and experienced workforce.
And it’s not hard to see how the opposite is also true. Employees who feel unsupported and ignored by management can easily lose motivation and start looking for other jobs where they feel they would be more valued. Or worse still, stagnate in their current job, unhappy and demotivated (see our previous blog on "quiet quitting").
So, what does a good manager look like?
Here’s our best practice checklist for effective managers in the workforce.
Great managers…
Spend time with employees regularly – get to know them as a person, what motivates them, and show they care about them as a person. This develops an effective working relationship built on trust.
Listen to employees, and don’t make assumptions. It’s important that employees feel that their opinion counts and managers are willing to act upon good ideas offered by employees
Communicate effectively with team members; this means having open channels where communication is easy and frequent. They also make sure in person contact is possible regularly between team members; miscommunication is much more likely to happen over email, WhatsApp or on Zoom.
Regularly praise and provide recognition to team members when they perform well.
Tackle underperformance and are willing to have difficult conversations when required. They are skilled at giving feedback in a factual, non-threatening way.
Make their expectations clear to employees and ensure these expectations are reasonable and in line with the employee's job description and contracted hours.
Treat team members fairly, honestly and with respect – they do not undermine or talk down to those they are managing.
Talk to us today if you would like any training for your line managers. We offer training delivered by a qualified HR professional on all aspects of line management including performance management, giving feedback, coaching for improved performance, goal setting, development planning and conflict management.
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