As a business owner, you know how difficult it can be to manage your staff. After all, there are so many things that need to be done on a daily basis, and the hours in a day seem too few for everything.
But what if you learned that there are some staff management mistakes that you’re making that might not seem like much at first but could lead to bigger problems down the line? This blog post goes through seven of these mistakes and shows you how they affect your employees as well as how you can avoid them.
Table of Contents
1. Not Giving Feedback
One mistake that business owners often make is not giving feedback to their employees promptly. When you deny employee feedback, they may feel unheard and, by extension, unimportant. This can lead to things like increased turnover and decreased productivity, both of which are unwelcome at any company.
Talking to employees is a great way to help your employees know what they’re doing right. It also helps to show them areas of improvement so that things can continue trending upward.
Look for opportunities throughout your day or week when you can take time out to provide constructive feedback to your staff members. They’ll appreciate it (and so will the bottom line).
2. Not Taking Breaks
Your staff also needs breaks during the workday just like you do. People who haven’t taken a break in a while maybe too burned out from sitting in front of a computer screen all day long.
As an employer, this means that you need to make sure that they’re taking several breaks per day for 20 minutes or longer.
At the same time, don’t be a pushover and allow your staff members to take more breaks than necessary during work hours. If an employee is taking too many 30-minute meetings every day, it can impact productivity (along with morale). Make sure you’re enforcing these rules clearly so everyone knows what’s expected of them.
3. Not Setting Clear Goals
This mistake often stems from not defining goals in the first place or waiting until it’s too late. If you don’t have clear goals, then there’s nothing for your staff members to focus on. This leads to problems like workers feeling lost with no direction and becoming unmotivated with time.
Clear goals set at the beginning will provide an end date for projects which means people are more likely to stay focused because they know when they’ll be done. This will also allow staff members to work on smaller, more manageable tasks and complete them in the allotted time. They know that their hard work is recognized by being able to tick off completed goals from a list.
4. Unreasonable Expectations
Setting expectations too high for your staff members will always lead to disappointment. It’s okay if not everyone achieves the same goals at the exact same time, but you don’t want people feeling like they’ve failed because it can be demotivating.
Setting realistic expectations means that staff members are more likely to feel accomplished when a goal is completed. Consequently, they will push themselves harder in order to reach their next goal. This leads them to achieve higher success rates and increased motivation levels which makes employees happier overall.
5. Inconsistent Communication with Employees
Making sure employees know what is expected of them will help the business run more smoothly. This includes regular team meetings and check-ins to ensure all staff members are on task, and there’s no question about their assignments. It also means establishing deadlines for when projects need to be completed.
Without this communication, staff members could potentially work at different paces, leading to confusion and missed deadlines. Tied in with setting reasonable expectations and realistic goals, good communication can be a powerful way to keep everyone working efficiently towards success.
6. Unqualified Supervisors
It might seem like an easy fix—hire qualified supervisors! But that isn’t always enough. Supervisors who have been given responsibilities without formal training or education often struggle to give feedback, provide direction, and constructively manage staff.
The first step to training a supervisor is understanding their strengths and weaknesses. Once they understand these areas of concern, the next task is providing them with educational opportunities related to those specific skills. This could be in-person or online sessions that teach leadership development, change management, or project management.
The more time spent on this important aspect of supervision will lead to happier employees. They will be able to take ownership over projects and gain confidence when giving constructive feedback about other staff members’ work quality.
7. Work-Life Balance
Work-personal life balance is an important consideration when it comes to staff management. Employees who are burnt out from work or have no time for their loved ones will be less motivated and more likely to leave the company, leading to a negative feedback loop that will ultimately cause you trouble in the long term.
Working long hours does not equate to better productivity. In fact, according to a study by John Pencavel of Stanford University, productivity drops to almost zero after 55 hours of work. So, allow your employees some time off work to make sure that they’re not overworked.
If you’re housing employees, there some vital factors to consider when choosing workforce housing. Remember, the more comfortable you make your employees feel, the more motivated they will be to perform their duties.
Avoid Staff Management Mistakes
It’s important to be aware of the mistakes that are commonly made by staff management and come up with a staff management strategy. Staff management mistakes can lead to decreased morale, decreased productivity, and customer service issues. As you know, it is crucial for your business to have happy employees who are productive so that they can provide excellent customer service at every opportunity.
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