5 Common Mistakes to Avoid When Managing Your Workforce

Business growth and good workforce management go hand in hand. Getting the balance right when organising staff, assigning roles, setting goals and managing productivity can be challenging particularly for larger companies.
Workforce management has several focuses but its main objective is to maximise productivity and performance levels to achieve the goals of a particular business.
In smaller companies, this can be a relatively simple exercise. In larger ones, it can become increasingly complex and unwieldy if the right processes are not put in place, especially where big projects are concerned.

Any manager should know that they are only as good as their team. Choosing the right people is critical but so is understanding how they all work together.
This can be a difficult area to manage, especially if the team is already in place and there’s little or no chance of recruiting the additional top talent needed.
But it’s not all about availability.
Lack of training and mismanagement of a team can mean they are less likely to want to perform to the high standards required.
Asking employees to multitask too much can damage their productivity by as much as 40%, according to some research.

By far the biggest mistake in workforce management comes directly from poor communication. Managers who can’t get information across to their teams will find it difficult to lead with any level of potency.
Of course, communication works both ways. If employees don’t feel they are being listened to or are marginalised within a team, they are not likely to fully engage. Some team members may, not be able to communicate their views well either. According to Liz Krause, Director of Marketing for Converged Technology Professionals:
“Managers also should be aware that employees may have communication styles and preferences that are less than ideal. Providing employees with effective communication solutions, such as a collaboration platform for texting and speaking, can boost performance and help your business run more efficiently.”

Many more businesses have been ‘forced’ into using online collaborative tools in the last year or so because of the pandemic. A lot of these are beginning to see the value of technology in assisting effective workforce management practices.
While there are a dizzying array of tools out there at the moment, the very best allow individuals, and collectively the team, to stay on track, meet targets and collaborate in a variety of ways. When used intelligently, these systems not only boost productivity but also increase employee confidence and enthusiasm.

Listening is probably the most undervalued skill in workforce management and businesses, in general, Yes, it takes time and effort to sit down with a team member and work through what their concerns are. Good, active listening also ensures that staff understand what the immediate goal is, how to achieve it and their role in the process.

Finally, workforce management is not micromanagement. This is a trap many managers fall into – it’s much easier to do the job themselves or oversee a process and its minutiae rather than letting team members get on with the task at hand. This comes down to trust and it’s stopped many teams from reaching their true potential.
The first step is to practice (and get used to) delegating. Allow your employees to thrive and take pride in their work. According to the Harvard Business School:
“When delegating, it’s important to remember that when you assign a project, you shouldn’t tell your co-worker, step-by-step, how to get the work done; that’s micromanaging. Focus instead on the desired outcome and ensure they have the right resources, training, and authority to reach the end goal.”
It’s also important to set clear expectations and, more importantly, let go of the idea that a perfect end result exists. Of course, this also goes back to the first point we made – hiring the right people into your team.
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Getting your approach to workforce management right can have a profound impact on your success and eventual business growth. But get it wrong and your workforce management will always be a stopgap that fails to deliver results to the frustration of everyone involved. 
Okappy Portal+ is here to improve your workforce management for the better. To learn more, request a call here.