In our last blog, we explored hiring and how to get it right, first time, every time. In this blog, we talk through what comes next – managing your employees.
Your employees are the most valuable thing you can have in growing your business. Employees need to feel that they are valued and have an effective and positive relationship with your organisation.
Many clients come to us with complex issues around employee management. Here we’ve put together three essential tips that will help you quickly get on top of any issues and enjoy a more positive and fruitful relationship with your staff team.
1. How’s your structure?
At Quantum Financial Group we always recommend beginning with an assessment of your organisational structure. It’s important to take the time to see where your employees fit within the organisation and assess the make-up of skills and abilities. Do you need to diversify, restructure or redistribute skills? Are you top heavy in one department, which is adversely affecting other areas? Do you have a major skills gap that is causing unhappiness and frustration?
More often than not, the organisations we work with do not have a formal organisational structure. If this is you, we recommend you begin here. You need a ‘business road map’ to know where you are really going.
2. Monitor performance
To successfully manage your employees you need a formal two-way feedback process in place. Performance management is absolutely critical. If you have a clear insight into your employees, their personalities, expectations and what they really want from their careers, you’re more likely to create and keep a successful, harmonious team.
Quantum Financial Group’s Skills Checklist Template can be used to put your own performance management program in place. Here is a basic outline of what to expect in your sample checklist…
- Let staff know what you expect of them and what they can expect from you.Include attendance, leave and flexibility of working hours, quality standards, productivity, and social behaviour.
- Identify skills gaps and strengths and focus on developing capabilities and knowledge.Employees often become dissatisfied and leave jobs that do not evolve or present new challenges or opportunities to use skills they have developed.
- Make time for staff development.Otherwise it will soon be disregarded in the workplace in favour of other priorities. Encourage staff to take responsibility for recognising their own developmental needs, too.
- Lead by example with your own skills and knowledge development. Share your expert knowledge across the team as much as possible.
3. Engagement = productivity
- Remember, an engaged employee will be working for you, not against you. Once you have your performance management program in place, you need to be checking in regularly on progress. Meet with your people monthly to check in on their overall happiness, listen to and provide feedback and make sure they are fully engaged in the workplace.Listening is critical to success when managing employees. You need to request and respect feedback for all aspects of the business, including you. Provide feedback, both publicly and privately as appropriate.Remember to emphasise strengths as well as weaknesses during performance reviews. Keep feedback simple, timely and relevant.
The quality of your ongoing discussions will drive employee productivity. Good morale, leadership and excellent working relationships between all employees is as important as physical workplace safety.
How to calculate your productivity
We often share this handy link with clients who want to analyse their situation dollar for dollar. This calculator enables you to find your profit based on the number of hours worked per week, and adjust and improve the way your employees are working.
Payroll Administration – are you up to date?
If you have more than 20 employees in your business, you should already be using Single Touch Payroll. If not, you only have until 1 July 2019 to implement electronic payroll data lodgement.
Single Touch Payroll (STP) reports payments such as salaries and wages, pay as you go (PAYG) withholding and superannuation information from your payroll solution each time you pay your employees. STP requirements will be expanded to include employers with 19 or less employees from 1 July 2019, subject to legislation.
If you’d like to talk to us about how we can add value to your business, contact Mike or Cathy at Quantum Financial Group on 03 9799 3832.