Employee Management

A Complete Guide On Employee Management And How It Works

As an HR professional, you are not only responsible for recruiting and onboarding employees. You will also be in charge of developing strategies for improving employee engagement, employee performance, and employee retention across your management.

In the years past, HR professionals needed plenty of spreadsheets for HR processes. In recent times, however, many effective employee management systems have been developed to streamline HR processes, including employee management.

If you are wondering whether it’s worth investing in employee management and an employee management system, here’s a guide about the importance of managing your employees and how your company will benefit from it.

What Is Employee Management?

Employee engagement is a broad term that covers every aspect related to human resources. This includes managing, developing, and interacting with your employees.

An effective employee management system aims to give your team members every tool necessary to keep employees engaged. With a proper employee management process, team members become more efficient and engaged.

Key Functional Areas of Employee Management

Understanding the functional areas of employee management helps HR professionals assist employees as needed. Additionally, it also helps HR professionals expand their practices and make a positive impact on the company culture and the entire workforce.

On that note, let’s take a look at the different aspects of employee management.

Recruitment

Effective employee management begins even before an employee starts a new role. HR professionals manage employees from the initial job posting, extending through the new team member’s first weeks on the job.

Taking the time to effectively manage employees ensures that HR is making the best possible choices for the team and the company.

During the hiring process, it’s important to:

• Create a clear and detailed job description
• Create a concise job listing
• Manage company expectations
• Gauge the applicant’s interest
• Discuss the personal and professional goals of the applicant
• Explain the company’s mission
• Be honest about the job expectations

The last point is the most important, but it is also often overlooked by HR professionals. The recruitment process would only be truly successful if the hiring manager is honest during the hiring process.

Being honest does not mean revealing any company secrets. The aim is actually to have the applicant leave the interview with a good understanding of the company culture, business goals, and work habits.

When done right, it will become easier to find a candidate that ticks off as many of the company qualifications as possible.

Retention

Once the job post is filled, the next step is to keep employees engaged, retain talent, and prevent employee turnover.

There are plenty of reasons why an employee might decide to leave their position in the company. Some think about retiring or relocating within the company, while others leave due to a lack of constructive feedback, poor workplace culture, or disagreements.

There are several things HR professionals can do to maintain employees:

• Offer livable wages
• Optimize the company’s benefits package
• Consider allowing flexibility related to work hours
• Invest in employee development by organizing mentorship programs and seminars
• Provide employees with career development opportunities
• Encourage open communication to develop healthy relationships with employees

Measurement

Performance management is extremely important in ensuring there is fair assessment among employees.

Evaluating an employee’s performance also allows HR professionals to give constructive feedback. In addition, investing in performance management software ensures the company is getting maximum output from each employee.

Having said that, HR professionals should take note that there is a fine line between conducting performance reviews and micromanaging employees.

Regulation

Regulating and disciplining employees may seem harsh, but it is vital to the company’s success.

As we’ve said above, HR professionals should not micromanage employees. Regulation means having conversations with employees regarding poor performance when necessary. When having these talks, be sure to give constructive criticism instead of listing a person’s weaknesses.

Receiving constructive criticism help employees develop their skills. In contrast, constant feedback leads to frustration and higher employee turnover rates.

When offering constructive feedback, it’s important to:

• Take note of the employee’s professional strengths
• Only offer feedback about what has been observed, not things that were speculated
• Do not address things that cannot be changed
• Allow employees to respond to the feedback
• Offer strategies that could help employees improve
• Reaffirm the employee’s importance in the team

There are two things to take note of when talking with employees. First, avoid constant feedback. Second, avoid telling the employee that the company has “a certain way of doing things.”

Rewarding

Correcting an employee’s mistakes is just as important as rewarding outstanding performance. When HR professionals forgo rewards, they are also preventing themselves from maintaining healthy relationships with employees, which leads team members to associate conversations with negative thoughts.

Employee recognition does not mean throwing a party every time someone gets a task done right. There are plenty of ways to recognize an improvement or achievement. Some great ways to show recognition include:

• Verbal recognition during a team or company-wide meeting
• Sending a personal note signed by other employees
• Give employees lunch or dinner paid for by the company
• Organize a company wellness day
• Offering support during a difficult time

Benefits of An Employee Management System

At the heart of business success lies the role of strong employee management. Employers who display strong leadership and mentorship have motivated employees whose skills are constantly being developed.

Employee management enables a company to develop skilled employees and achieve operational efficiency with minimum overheads. Implementing employee management will also give you other benefits. Let’s take a look at the importance of employee management in more detail.

Work Efficiency

When companies treat employees well, team members believe their work is meaningful to the organization’s success. Employees who feel appreciated tend to be more productive, which then leads to better work efficiency.

Higher productivity levels encourage employees to do quality work and make better products. Additionally, customer services improve greatly when HR professionals and senior management effectively keep employees happy and engaged.

Lower Costs

There are countless costs that go into operations management. The new hire process, for example, costs a significant amount of time and money to produce the perfect job description, hold interviews, and onboard new employees.

Effective employee management reduces the amount of time and money companies spend to fill open positions by decreasing the employee turnover rate and improving employee retention.

Better Data Security

Companies hold sensitive information about their employees and clients, among other entities. Employee management ensures that these data do not fall into the hands of unauthorized persons.

Putting project management tools in place can help HR professionals assign privileges based on a person’s responsibility.

Company Desirability

The most sought-after jobs are not limited to roles that pay well and offer the most benefits. Often, employees are looking for a position where they are treated well and rewarded for a job well done.

A company with a good employee management process has a lower turnover rate and great work-life balance. These aspects increase a company’s desirability and make it more attractive to a higher volume of candidates, giving the company a greater selection of qualified individuals.

Tips For Effective Employee Management

Foster Open Communication

Employees need accurate and timely information to perform well. The only way to give your team members the necessary information is by communicating with them.

A recent 15Five study of more than 1,000 workers found that at least 81% of employees said they would rather join a company that values the importance of communication over a business that provides great perks.

The same survey also found that only 15% of employees are satisfied with the communication in their company.

To keep the conversation going in the workplace, here are four effective tips:

• Be visible. Managers and team leaders should be present on the company floor. Letting employees see company leaders around the office creates an “open door policy,” allowing employees to easily approach leaders whenever needed.
• Be transparent. Sharing company policies, announcements, and updates with the team will make them feel appreciated.
• Keep engaging employees. According to Gallup, companies with engaged employees earn about 2.5 times more revenue. Organizing team-building activities help enhance employee productivity and foster bonding between different groups of multigenerational employees.

Set Goals

A great way to help employees develop their skills and grow as professionals are by creating goals they should accomplish throughout the year. An easy way to do this is by following the “SMART” checklist. The acronym stands for specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-based.

In addition to setting goals, scheduling meetings with employees every once in a while allows the company to discover any issues that prevent team members from meeting their goals.

Practice Empathy

Practicing empathy helps promote an employee’s growth while being mindful of their emotions. To do this, strive to understand the issue through the employee’s perspective. Additionally, highlight their strengths and provide solutions to address their weaknesses.

Onboard Employees

Setting a positive tone with an efficient onboarding process helps the new hire immediately form a bond with the organization. Additionally, a majority of employees who receive effective onboarding feel more strongly integrated into the company culture.

Invest In Employee Development

Investing in employee development allows team members to grow into new roles, be more engaged, and contribute even more to the company.

There are plenty of options available to businesses looking to further develop their employees’ skillsets:

• Organize in-house training or online seminars
• Have employees attend webinars and conferences
• Create training materials or a course for employees

Invest In The Right Tools

Practicing employee management will require extreme organizational skills. Having the right tools will help company leaders better plan and manage work hours to control labor costs and increase productivity.

There are four types of employee management software that companies should invest in.

Time & Attendance

Keeping track of the hours and attendance of employees is vital to managing the cost of running the business. Using tools that show how many hours employees work each work will also make the payroll management process smoother and more efficient.

In addition to helping in payroll management, tools that track time and attendance will allow you to correct behaviors concerning attendance before it worsens.

Performance Monitoring Tools

While using computer tracking software is an option, it is not recommended.

Effective performance management software offers HR professionals valuable data that gauge an employee’s effectiveness. By having these data, company leaders have evidence to show when they need to have conversations with employees about poor performance.

Project Management Software

Project management tools are designed to allow companies to assign individual tasks to each team member. It also allows team leaders to see each employee’s daily task list and measure how they contribute to a massive project.

Most project management tools provide detailed reports, including whether any employee is missing deadlines.

The Bottom Line

Managing employees effectively can be stressful. After all, it involves motivating employees to get the work done efficiently. It’s impossible to master the process, but streamlining it is very much achievable.

To fully benefit from employee management, make sure to build loyalty and trust with employees by encouraging open communication and providing constructive feedback to help employees develop their skills.