Employees

• Understanding employees is a critical aspect of managing people in any business. They are human resources that contribute to the organisation’s productivity.
• Employees can be divided into different categories: full-time, part-time, contractual, temporary, or fixed-term.
• Their roles can also differ, they can be managers, supervisors, executives, etc. Each role requires different skills and responsibilities.
• Their performance is majorly affected by motivation, job satisfaction, and working conditions. Motivation can be intrinsic or extrinsic.
• Performance management is essential in monitoring, maintaining, and improving employees’ work. This includes constructive feedback, performance appraisals, and actions to tackle underperformance.
• Training and development are also vital in improving employees’ skills and productivity. This includes on-the-job and off-the-job training.
• Understanding employment laws is important in managing people. These can cover terms of employment, discrimination, and health & safety.
• Perks or benefits can be utilised by businesses to retain and motivate employees. These include holidays, pensions, health insurance, etc.
• Employees are entitled to certain rights like minimum wage, working hours, paid leaves, etc.
• Communication between employees and management is essential for a healthy working environment. This could be through meetings, email, etc.
• Dismissal of employees needs to be carried out correctly, including disciplinary procedures and redundancy.
• Every worker belongs to a different demographic, and has different needs and wants. Recognizing these differences and implementing policies to cater to them can lead to a more diverse and inclusive workplace.
• Trade Unions and employee representation can be efficient channels for communicating employee’s concerns to management.
• Psychological contracts (expectations between an employer and employee that are not written into a formal contract) also play a vital role in managing people.
• Ethical issues also come into play, such as fair treatment, respect, privacy, etc. Businesses that uphold these values may have happier, more loyal staff.
• Employee turnover is a major challenge. It can be expensive for businesses to recruit and train new staff. Therefore, creating a positive work environment can help retain employees.
• There are various theories of management and leadership that can be used to handle employees effectively. These include bureaucratic, autocratic, democratic, and transformational styles of leadership.
• Conflict resolution is another crucial part of managing people, involving tackling disputes, communication breakdowns, etc.
• The organisational culture and climate can also impact employee behaviour, satisfaction, and performance.