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How to ensure effective employee management

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The GoCardless content team comprises a group of subject-matter experts in multiple fields from across GoCardless. The authors and reviewers work in the sales, marketing, legal, and finance departments. All have in-depth knowledge and experience in various aspects of payment scheme technology and the operating rules applicable to each. The team holds expertise in the well-established payment schemes such as UK Direct Debit, the European SEPA scheme, and the US ACH scheme, as well as in schemes operating in Scandinavia, Australia, and New Zealand. See full bio

Last editedFeb 20203 min read

If you want to start a business, you need to have a solid understanding of employee relationship management. Managing a team isn’t just about ensuring your employees are working at their optimal productivity levels, it’s also about knowing how to motivate employees as a manager so that these productivity levels can be consistently maintained. Read on to find out more about how to manage employees.

How to manage employees

The rewards for effective employee management include increased staff retention, improved productivity, and the development of a truly motivated workforce. But there’s more to it than creating a great work environment. In fact, the process begins before your employees have even started working for your company. Here are some of the most important elements of employee management:

1. Get the hiring process right

A fundamental aspect of any workforce is making sure that every new starter is a great fit for your brand’s values and character. Yes, they should have the right academic and professional skills, but what about their personality? If your brand is in a creative field, you may need someone who can think outside the box. On the other hand, if you are in a more traditional area like finance or law, you need someone who can adapt to a more structured way of working.

2. Communicate effectively

Good relationships require clear and frequent communication. Make yourself available and approachable and don’t talk to your employees in business jargon that makes you seem insincere or impersonal. A common tactic for better employee relationship management is a business-wide catch-up. Encourage employees to submit their suggestions or complaints anonymously and then set aside a few hours on the last Friday of the month for a Q&A with senior management and HR. This doesn’t have to be a formal event – throw in some free pizza and let your employees relax. These sorts of sessions aren’t about shaming people for having a voice but encouraging them to use it.

3. Examine your own behaviour

People will always look to senior members of the team for guidance on how to behave. If you’re not trying to better yourself, address your flaws, and create a working environment that helps others do likewise, you will quickly lose the loyalty of your co-workers. Take stock of how you act around the office. Do you stay at your desk and expect people to come to you? Do you spend all day chatting? Act how you expect others to act, and your employees will follow suit.

4. Be transparent

Make sure your workers know what they need to do, and how they need to do it. You may think most roles are self-explanatory – take a finance assistant, for example – but your employee performance management is sure to suffer if workers don’t know how they’re supposed to perform. They may have a wealth of experience in their field, but lack experience within your business’s niche. If so, make your expectations regarding their performance clear. Employee time management is also important – let your team know how you expect them to spend their time. This, in turn, will enable them to prioritise their tasks effectively.

5. Avoid micromanagement

Employee experience management should also be considered. Do you provide co-workers with the option to hot desk? Are you setting lunch hours and coffee breaks like recess at school? Micromanaging makes workers feel like they are under a microscope, and that you don’t trust them to act correctly. A lack of trust in your workers will produce a lack of trust in your management. Having to negotiate your micromanagement becomes extra work for an employee and a serious source of stress.

6. Learn how to manage difficult employees

You also need to become adept at managing difficult employees. A disciplinary plan is essential to any workplace. Start with a casual conversation about what went wrong and how you can stop it from happening again. If that doesn’t work, escalate with a formal warning. As a last resort, you may need to dismiss the employee. If it does come to that, make sure you comply with state and federal employment laws.

Employee management software

Employee management software can be a fantastic tool for building relationships and bringing out the best in your workforce. Consider adopting some of the following programs:

Accounting software like Xero allow for multiple employee log-ins. This enables your team to view their pay slips and log their own expenses, without feeling like they need to bother finance.
Instant messengers like Skype or Slack will keep your team connected. Don’t ban a casual chat channel; every workplace needs a space for employees to relax and be themselves.
Provide your team with the tools they need to make your job easier. Payment systems like GoCardless mean your finance department won’t need to constantly chase clients.

We can help

GoCardless helps you automate payment collection, cutting down on the amount of admin your team needs to deal with when chasing invoices. Find out how GoCardless can help you with ad hoc payments or recurring payments.