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If you have read even a small number of business-related articles, you will have come across the notion of employees being a central facet of any business. This idea is so prevalent for the very good reason that it happens to be true, but that doesn’t stop its repetition being a little stale. If you are in an upper management position within any kind of business, then it is definitely a good idea for you to get to grips with some of the finer points of people management. A big part of this is having a clear idea of what fair treatment looks like. Regardless of your employees’ status in relation to the business itself, they are people who deserve to be treated in a particular way while at work. It also happens to be true that following these guidelines will result in a higher quality of work being produced throughout the company, a happier culture being developed within the office, and more smiles being thrown your way.
Hire Those Who Really Want It
Some of the more important treatment issues begin before you have even hired anyone. When you are going through the recruitment process, be careful with the people you select for your positions. It goes without saying that choosing experienced and professional hard-workers is important for the success of your business. But it is also relevant to the wellbeing of those workers. You might find, during recruitment, a number of candidates who don’t seem to be entirely on board with the idea of working for you. First of all, it is unlikely that you will want to work in close relation to them for very long anyway. Secondly, it is just as unlikely that hiring them for a position they don’t really want is going to be any good for them. It might sound odd, or even overly academic, but it is worth ensuring that you only hire people who really want the job. Otherwise, you might find yourself stuck with a team of individuals who would rather be anywhere else. That is far from ideal as a working condition, and is best avoided if at all possible.
Use Responsibility As Fuel
There is a common reticence among business managers, in which they lack the confidence to give their employees much responsibility. At first sight, we can see where this fear might come from. After all, if you give too much responsibility to the wrong person, there is no doubt that it can cause serious problems. But even those problems are probably not quite as severe as the kind of limitations which can occur as a result of nobody being given any kind of responsibility. If you allow the fear of handing over the reins to stop you in your tracks every time, you are limiting both your business and your colleagues. Instead, think of responsibility as a kind of fuel for growth – the growth of your people and your company. As with any fuel, it is sensible to use it sparingly at first, and thereafter add a little more to the fire as it becomes wise to do so. If you are not convinced, I implore you to at least give it a go and see. Try it out with something relatively trivial; give that little bit of extra responsibility to someone, entrust them with it, and watch what happens. You should find that they pleasantly surprise you with what they can do. From this, you can start to build a more trusting and gradually more inclusive way of doing business which will benefit everybody.
Pay Fairly, And For Every Minute Worked
There is probably no faster way of driving your employees out the door than by not paying them well enough. It is not as simple as saying that you have to pay them handsomely; but you do need to pay them an amount which is fair for the work they do, and you need to account for every minute that they work. The vast majority of businesses satisfy that first condition; relatively few achieve the second. But paying your people for every single minute of their time is a sure way of keeping them happy, and keeping their work quality as high as possible. A main cause of errors in this regard is simply not keeping track of the time spent on any given project well enough. However, this can easily be rectified if you find timesheet software online and log the minutes that way. Pay your people well, and they will be unlikely to leave.
Provide Advancement Opportunities
Most people want to feel as though they have the opportunity to get ahead at work. A lot of the time, this is what makes work a lot more bearable. So you can effectively do quite a lot for your employees by ensuring that there are plenty of opportunities for them to advance. You can’t create roles out of thin air, of course, but you can make sure that those people who work the hardest are rewarded the most. In this way, you create a framework for succeeding which your employees can easily make sense of and try to fit into it. This improves the quality of their work, and their happiness in working for you – two very important qualities in any business. You can tell if there are not enough opportunities for your staff if nobody seems to be trying particularly hard to get anything done. Advancing is one of the keenest motivators of all, and it is worth bearing that in mind.
Praise When It Is Earned; Reward When Necessary
Finally, let’s think about the role of praise and reward in the world of work. People tend to respond well to praise, but it needs to be genuine and well-deserved, otherwise it achieves little. Similarly, rewards should be based on a strong structure, so that employees can be sure of whether or not a reward is really deserved. Above all, you need to value fairness and equality in handing out rewards.
