Develop a people strategy for your business
You may have red-hot products and an eager customer base, but
unless your people are working together as an effective team, your
company is unlikely to fulfil its potential. Getting the most
out of staff is partly a matter of leadership, but in all except
the smallest companies it also essential to have a people or
workforce strategy in place. This guide introduces you to how to do
that by looking at the strategy's three key stages of
development:
- Deciding goals
- Driving performance
- Recruitment
Deciding goals
The key to effective people management is understanding the
requirements of your organisation - that means knowing many
employees you will need and what skills and experience are required
to deliver your company's goals. Equally important is recognising
how efficiently your current team is working, or any problems that
are hampering progress. Taking a strategic view of staffing issues
can be challenging, but it's not something that you have to do on
your own. Investors in People and management consultancies
can help.
- Understand the requirements of your organisation
- Recognise efficiency and problems
- Go to Investors in People or management consultancies if you
need help
Driving performance
Ultimately, you want to create a more motivated and efficient
workforce whilst keeping the turnover of key staff to a minimum,
but defining more specifically what performance means in terms of
both the company and the individual helps you focus on how to
achieve your goals. Figure out a metric to measure performance -
particularly if it's to be linked to pay. Good ways to
incentivise staff include performance-related bonuses, pro-active
approaches to training, mentoring, the introduction of appraisal
systems, plus less formalised measures such as team-building days
and even free tea, coffee and toast. A good IT support system
never goes astray either.
- Define performance
- Identify a way to measure it
- Find ways to incentivise staff
- Keep staff happy day-to-day
Recruitment
As with the retention and motivation of existing staff, finding
the best people for your business may in large part come down to
competitive salaries, company benefits and opportunities for
advancement. But it's also worth remembering that the way your
business presents itself is important. If you wish to attract
self-starting, entrepreneurial and creative members of staff,
that's the image that your company should present - both in
advertisements and at the interview stage.
- Competitive salaries and benefits will always play a big role
in recruiting the best
- Remember to present yourself well
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