People Management: Signs That You’re Doing It Wrong & How To Fix It

A company’s lifeblood is its people. They are your most valuable asset  and   contribute a  great deal  to the success of a business.   

Each person is unique.  They have d ifferent personalities, backgrounds, beliefs, principles  and work ethics   —   put the m  all together  and  its standard to have  conflict  every now and then from within the team .  This is where   effective people management skills  becomes important .    

 Leaders are expected to have people management skills. They must know how to properly handle the differences of employees and how tocreatea harmonious work relationship among them.    

How can you effectively manage people in your team? Before we go to the best practices, let’s identify the most common problems first.Here are three tell-tale signs that you need to step up your people management game:   

 Signs of Poor People Management  

Poor people management manifests in the workplace in one way or another. To easier understand how to improve on it, you should learn how not to do it first.   

 Sign #1: Micromanagement  

Micromanagement does not only slow down your t eam’s growth, it’s also the fastest way you can lose them and their trust .   

Leaders who micromanage imply that they don’t trust their employees enough to do the job properly .Not only does micromanagementstifleopportunity and innovation , theperceived lack of faith in the employees’ competency can create an environment where their team becomes insecure, hurting company morale and increasing employee turnover.     

Of course,quality should be prioritised , butdon’t forget—they were hired for a reason.    

Especially for homebased or remote work setup, trust is very important. The moment you chose to employ people you can’t oversee physically, youhave also made the decision to believe that  they can deliver maximum results with minimal supervision .   

Micromanaging people is never the solution to getting them on track. Engage them through learning and development initiatives, provide clear instructions for every project, set the goals from the get-go. This way, they will know what is expected of them and work towards meeting it.   

 Sign #2: Unproductive employees  

This is the most obvious sign of poor people management. When employees are unproductive, don’t just look at their faults; rather, look at how you manage them.   

There are many causes of work inefficiency, like poor  time management , skills and jobs mismatch, and stressful work environment, among others. But poor people management also contribute a lot to it.   

Do you know the strengths and core skills of your employees? Which tasks do they enjoy and are most productive at? What are the challenges they encounter?What motivates them?   

This is where employee appraisal comes in—not just to evaluate their performance but to get to know them better as well.   

Listen to them and ask for their insights. This will give you a wider perspective on how they see things and what encourages them at work .    

Team building activities are always a good idea, too. It will be beneficial for you and your staff to take a break from all the day-to-day deliverables and just go out to bond as ateam.     

 Sign #3: Low employee retention and high turnover  

If issues are left un re solved, there’s a higher chance that employees will leave. It all starts with stress and conflict within the workplace, which result in unproductive and unsatisfied employees, whothenend up resigning.   

There’s no use in hiring the  best talent  for your company if you can’t retain them.    

Your workflow would also be disrupted if team members come and go, which could affect the quality of outputs. Consistency is key in business. All the training and development efforts you’ve invested in them will come to waste if you don’ttake care of them.   

Not only you can obtain such valuable insights, your employees would feel valued  and appreciated , too. When you listen to them, they would become more involved and motivated. In return, theybecome invested and are most likely to contribute positively to achieving the goals of the company.   

Listening also goes beyond words; you must take non-verbal cues as well. Look at how people respond through their actions, body language and facial expressions . Most of the time, actionsreallydospeak louder than words.   

Asking a simple “What do you think?” can do wonders. This people management skill is commonly overlooked, but if applied effectively, can produce priceless results within the workplace.   

 2. Empathy is more than just a “soft skill”  

Being able to place yourself in someone else’s shoes is a key people management skill. Empathy is understanding another person’s experience, perspectives, and feelings like they were yours.   

Like listening, you’ll be able to build trust and harmony in the workplace through empathy. You’ll also unlock new learnings and perspectives that youmay havemiss ed before.   

With this, you can better understand people’sbehaviour andtheir motivations , and predict responses in the long run. This can help  shape your workplace culture   and environment in a way that greatly benefits all the employees.   

Empathy is one of thecore cognitive capacities of a great leader , along with trust, discipline, critical-thinking, and self-awareness.    

When employees feel that they are understood and treatedlike an integral member of the company , they would give back positively to your “corporate karma” and add greater value to your company.   

 3. Set a people-centric goal  

Setting business goals is a given in every company, but making the people your topmost consideration is the extra mile.   

It’s easy to make ROI the number one goal of businesses. While that’s important, there’s another way to generate returns without forgetting about the people who’d actually make it happen—  make your goals centered on people .   

People-centric leaders understand that the key to achieving success is through the employees. Instead of putting too much pressure on sales targets and conversions, focusing on developing the skills of the sales team would make a difference.   

This way, targets would still be achieved while increasing your employees’ morale and confidence, generating more results in the future.   

 4. Transform your group into a team   

Collaboration is what draws the line between a group and a team. You can put together a group of experts and still get underwhelming results.    

What is the main difference between the two ?A group is made up of people who coordinate their individual efforts , whilea team is a group of people who  share a common goal  .   

The key to achieving success is empowering teams. As a leader, you are no longer just responsible for managing individuals in your company; it’s vital to supervise teams by providing themwiththe tools todevelop their skills together.   

No one person is solely responsible for the success or failure of a project. In every result, there are enablers.And these are mostly teams that have worked together towards a common goal.   

Great teams are a result of good people management. When youmaximise teamwork in the workplace, along withexcellent project management , business operations would flow more smoothly.   

 Practice Effective People Management Today  

Being an excellent manager with people skills isn’t walk in the park, but it sure isalearnable  trait . With the right mindset and attitude, you can develop your people management skills in no time.   

Remember that a company caters to diverse sets of people from different backgrounds and cultures, so it’s just a matter of finding balance and harmony in the workplace, plus a common goal: success.   

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