Here are seven steps to keep in mind when hiring, training, and managing staff in a humanistic management framework.
Step 1: Recognize the individual for who they are as a whole person, and not just as someone with specific knowledge you think might be helpful.
Step 2: Provide them with the right work environment so that their personality and skills can be utilized fully and not suppressed because you as the manager cannot figure out how to take advantage of their unique abilities and temperament.
Step 3: Ensure that your staff are properly oriented. They need to understand the big picture, how their part of the work fits into the rest of the organization, and how the different pieces inter-relate to create the whole. A good orientation explains how everyone in the company is dependent on everyone else doing their job in order for the company to work effectively. Make sure they know how important their work is, even if what you are asking them to do is sweep your floors. It is all essential or you would not have hired them.
Step 4: Make sure they have the training they need to do the job. If you hire someone to sweep your floors, but you do not ensure they know how to use a broom, they probably are not going to succeed.
Step 5: Verify that they have learned your specific and unique processes. Do not assume it is obvious. Every work group has its quirks. Even sweeping the floor for a company has quirky requirements. Do not omit those during training or you set your employee up for failure. If they do fail, do not treat them as a failure; it was your fault as the manager that you did not teach them this quirk. If they come up with a solution to a problem and it is not the solution you hoped for, understand that they are creatively solving a problem, and that is a good thing. Do not punish them for that. Learn why what you thought was going to work—did not and how the processes need to be adjusted to take into account—the reality the employees experience.
Step 6: In the early stages of an employee’s work for you, check their work and help them learn from the mistakes made in Step 4. It is amazingly disheartening to think you are doing something correctly and doing it for a long time only to find out that you have been doing it wrong all along and no one bothered to tell you. No one feels good about that. When this happens, it is the manager’s fault. The sooner you can help an employee identify a problem and correct it, the happier everyone will be. The longer you let something linger, the more frustration and anger will arise when you finally do correct it.
Step 7: Thank them for their work. Do not take it for granted that they were going to do it anyway. People like to know you appreciate their work. The key to doing this step well is to understand that different individuals need different rewards for their work. In order to provide them with a reward that is meaningful to them, you need to know what is motivating them. It is not just that people are getting paid for their work. That is nice, but it is not all people want. I started my professional career working in volunteer management. With volunteers, you do not reward them with pay. You have to provide them with another reason to volunteer for you. Some people want public recognition. Some people are looking for friendships, some are looking to learn new skills, and some get really excited when they accomplish something difficult that they did not think was possible. In order to keep your employees happy and loyal, you need to treat them as the individuals they are and figure out what is motivating them so that you can individualize your approach for each employee. This sounds harder than it actually is. Break down the most common motivations and design your rewards and thanks programs to provide the customized motivation your different employees require. Structured flexibility really does work. Most managers fail at this because they are only really comfortable working with people who are basically like them and motivated by the same things as they are. A humanistic business manager stretches themselves out of their comfort zone to make sure they are treating each of their employees with dignity and celebrate the unique gifts and traits that each brings to the company. After all, if you have a company of likeminded individuals, you are limiting yourself and your problem-solving and your customer base to people who are like you. That is not good for business.
Learn more about applied Humanism in business at:
https://humanistlearning.com/category/businesscourses/
And get my new book on applied Humanist at: https://humanistlearning.com/new-book-applied-humanism-how-to-create-more-effective-and-ethical-businesses/
Step 1: Recognize the individual for who they are as a whole person, and not just as someone with specific knowledge you think might be helpful.
Step 2: Provide them with the right work environment so that their personality and skills can be utilized fully and not suppressed because you as the manager cannot figure out how to take advantage of their unique abilities and temperament.
Step 3: Ensure that your staff are properly oriented. They need to understand the big picture, how their part of the work fits into the rest of the organization, and how the different pieces inter-relate to create the whole. A good orientation explains how everyone in the company is dependent on everyone else doing their job in order for the company to work effectively. Make sure they know how important their work is, even if what you are asking them to do is sweep your floors. It is all essential or you would not have hired them.
Step 4: Make sure they have the training they need to do the job. If you hire someone to sweep your floors, but you do not ensure they know how to use a broom, they probably are not going to succeed.
Step 5: Verify that they have learned your specific and unique processes. Do not assume it is obvious. Every work group has its quirks. Even sweeping the floor for a company has quirky requirements. Do not omit those during training or you set your employee up for failure. If they do fail, do not treat them as a failure; it was your fault as the manager that you did not teach them this quirk. If they come up with a solution to a problem and it is not the solution you hoped for, understand that they are creatively solving a problem, and that is a good thing. Do not punish them for that. Learn why what you thought was going to work—did not and how the processes need to be adjusted to take into account—the reality the employees experience.
Step 6: In the early stages of an employee’s work for you, check their work and help them learn from the mistakes made in Step 4. It is amazingly disheartening to think you are doing something correctly and doing it for a long time only to find out that you have been doing it wrong all along and no one bothered to tell you. No one feels good about that. When this happens, it is the manager’s fault. The sooner you can help an employee identify a problem and correct it, the happier everyone will be. The longer you let something linger, the more frustration and anger will arise when you finally do correct it.
Step 7: Thank them for their work. Do not take it for granted that they were going to do it anyway. People like to know you appreciate their work. The key to doing this step well is to understand that different individuals need different rewards for their work. In order to provide them with a reward that is meaningful to them, you need to know what is motivating them. It is not just that people are getting paid for their work. That is nice, but it is not all people want. I started my professional career working in volunteer management. With volunteers, you do not reward them with pay. You have to provide them with another reason to volunteer for you. Some people want public recognition. Some people are looking for friendships, some are looking to learn new skills, and some get really excited when they accomplish something difficult that they did not think was possible. In order to keep your employees happy and loyal, you need to treat them as the individuals they are and figure out what is motivating them so that you can individualize your approach for each employee. This sounds harder than it actually is. Break down the most common motivations and design your rewards and thanks programs to provide the customized motivation your different employees require. Structured flexibility really does work. Most managers fail at this because they are only really comfortable working with people who are basically like them and motivated by the same things as they are. A humanistic business manager stretches themselves out of their comfort zone to make sure they are treating each of their employees with dignity and celebrate the unique gifts and traits that each brings to the company. After all, if you have a company of likeminded individuals, you are limiting yourself and your problem-solving and your customer base to people who are like you. That is not good for business.
Learn more about applied Humanism in business at:
https://humanistlearning.com/category/businesscourses/
And get my new book on applied Humanist at: https://humanistlearning.com/new-book-applied-humanism-how-to-create-more-effective-and-ethical-businesses/
No comments:
Post a Comment