What is staff management?
Staff management is the structure that allows the employees to develop their roles to their full potential. The process should focus on the staff's performance so the organization as a whole can accomplish its goals.
Changes in the job market
The job market is changing. Digitalization, the demographic evolution, and the development of hedonism are clearly evident in what is happening with the younger generations.
A trend that has become evident for quite some time is that the sense of loyalty towards employers is declining and that it is no longer rare for employees to switch employers. This confronts businesses and especially employee management executives with new challenges.
New generation
“Only those who know their destinations will find the way,” Chinese philosopher Laozi warned humankind back in his day.
The goal of young graduates is clear: None of them want to do the same thing every day from 8 am to 5 pm.
The objective of modern companies and HR managers is also very simple.
Young professionals have to be convinced to decide in favor of the company they already work for and have to be motivated to stay with the company in the long run.
The only question is: How can this be achieved?
The employee as a production factor who is “alive”
The workforce is every company’s most valuable and also most expensive capital. However, they are, at the same time, also the most unpredictable and complex production factor that has to be taken into consideration.
The reason is that people have different motivations, expectations, and needs that must be factored in.
You are probably familiar with this from your experiences at the company you own or work for:
Some co-workers arrive at work at 8 am and leave not a minute after 5 pm. They won’t work overtime. Others make you wonder if they ever even go home.
Some staff members need praise to be motivated, others get their motivation from good achievements and the work they did, while others will stay motivated in the long run only if they are promised regular pay increases or bonuses.
There is no “remedy for everything” human resource managers have at their disposal that will produce equally good results for all employees.
Consequently, HR managers must have a high level of intuition to be able to communicate clearly with employees while seeing eye to eye and to attain the goals set by the executive management.
What are the most important goals of staff management?
In the long term, an HR manager will have to pursue many diverse goals to represent the interests of his or her company. They should be challenging yet realistic.
The goals can have either an economic or a social nature.
While the economic goals aim at protecting the company in the long run and improving it, the social goals aim at guaranteeing the wellbeing of (future) employees.
Below is a list of keywords for the respective staff management goals:
Economic goals:
- Procurement of staff members.
- Onboarding process and fostering of up-and-coming talent.
- Preventing the placement of incompatible candidates.
- Maximize the use of employee potential.
Social objectives:
- Make work-life balance possible.
- Offer secure jobs and competitive employee benefits.
- Communication of the appreciation of the work done.
- Improve employee satisfaction levels.
- Offer fair employee compensation.
- Improve the climate in the workplace.
- Motivate employees.
- Offer preventative healthcare.
- Give the employee the opportunity to identify with the company and grow.
- Offer continuing professional development opportunities.
It is a deciding factor for the development of the company and for the personal employees’ wellbeing how effectively the goals are pursued and implemented with the help of a staff management system.
In pursuit of a path leading to a new corporate culture
An employer aiming to ensure the long-term loyalty of his/her employees must ensure that he/she is more than a resource for money for the employees.
This is contingent upon having a new corporate culture one desires to be a part of.
Leading by example is also crucial. Leaders should show with their own actions how to manage their responsibilities effectively and how to inspire their team to push themselves to their best performance. The great results will be appreciated by the entire company.
If you can offer an employee financial stability as well as an appreciation for the work performed and promise the possibility of career advancement through investments in advanced education, you are off to a good start.
How to retain the employees in the long run?
Alongside leading by example and financial stability, you should consider improving the sense of belonging in your team.
If the employee develops a sense that he/she doesn’t only fit well into the team not only from a professional but also a personality perspective, this will considerably increase the chances of retaining the employee in the long term.
Modern employers further enhance their popularity by offering added benefits to employees and applicants.
Flat corporate hierarchies, the option to work from home, flexible work hours, team-building measures and state-of-the-art hardware are all indicators that you as an employer want you staff members to like working for you.
The more extraordinary your offer is in the eyes of employees, the better. Even professional massage therapy at the workplace is no longer an oddity.
This corporate culture must be in evidence as of the first point of contact – and that’s usually the website or a classified job ad.
It is the responsibility of your human resource manager to internalize this culture and transport it to outsiders in the best way possible.