By Ikenna M. Okafor,
(SmeDoctor)
Human Resource Manager @ Ammasco International Limited
Management Consultant @ Integrate Institute of Professional Management
WhatsApp: +234(0)7032940777
LinkedIn Profile – https://www.linkedin.com/in/historicu
There are certain issues organizations must take seriously. These issues are part of the issues that determine the failure, growth, or progress of organizations. Over time and space, most organizations especially those that fall under the MSMEs categories tend to ignore them and trivialize them since most times they are not directly costing them. Some of these issues are;
Performance management
Hiring
Setting goals
Letting people go
Performance Management
Performance Management is the combination of policies, practices, and procedures that guide and support an employee’s success at work. In it lies performance appraisal which is a systematic way of examining if employees meet their supposed target within a specified period. As written in one of my articles that appraisal has gone beyond just task-based but competencies, skills, organizational objectives, organizational value and culture, job description, and key performance indicators. This means that effective performance management includes compensation, employee motivation, bonuses, and making other employment decisions such as promotion.
It is also important to state that performance management offers legal protection to employees and employers. Therefore, firms must take this very seriously and see it as an integral aspect of their organization that must be done timely and periodically.
Hiring
Your role as someone’s manager does not start on the first day of the person at work. It starts from the day you post the job advert for hire. This is what makes another important part of the business that should not be left in the hands of the human resource department alone for robust organizations, nor should it be left in the hands of the Managing Director alone for much smaller organizations.
The hiring process determines the quality of people that come into the organization. For instance, a good job post outlines who the applicant should report to if hired, educational qualifications, skills needed for the job, and competencies.
To achieve the best in this and to get the best hands to make sure you use the best practices in hiring. Be specific about job requirements and be realistic. Hire the right person for the job rather than relying on personal relationships. See an interview as a way of attracting the right candidate than being biased toward the favored candidate. Create time for the hiring process and take it as an investment to build a great team.
Setting Goals
Setting goals is very important in any organization. The goals of your organization should be broken down into long-term, mid-term and short-term goals. That’s not enough. Your goals should also be divided from organizational goals down to the personal goals of people in the organization. By so doing one can measure how all these goals contribute to the overall organizational success. Goal setting can be used to focus or redirect efforts and behaviour in organizations.
One technique to use in setting and achieving goals is the SMART Goal technique. Your goals must be Specific (who, when, and how), Measurable; meaning there is a clear way to see progress, Attainable or Action-oriented, and Realistic; meaning they can be achieved within the time and resources available and finally should be Timely; meaning it has a clearly stated deadline.
This will make you understand the direction you are going and know when you are going offline. Using this technique will help you strategize timely when and how to get on track.
Letting People Go
When we terminated one of our very senior staff, my Managing Director said to me that it is always difficult parting with employees no matter what is necessitating it. This is true, but yet it’s an important phase in the life of any organization. I, getting to terminate people even a professional Human Resource hasn’t been easy for me either. In all, when letting people go, always seek guidance and help to avoid lawsuits especially when it’s termination. Employment contracts ended broadly in two ways voluntarily and involuntarily. Under voluntarily we have willing resignation, mutual agreement to terminate the contract, retirement, and even job abandonment. Usually, these need little or no legal guidance.
For the involuntarily, usually, the person did not choose to leave but is “forced” to. This could be by the layoff, being terminated may be due to poor performance, and the last wrongful termination. This particular one in most cases leads to lawsuits. This could be very expensive and damaging to the organization. In Nigeria today, a lot of former employees of organizations have gone to the bank smiling because of this.
No matter your organizational size or industry, today’s organization is different from what it used to be years ago. More collaboration is needed which means more and more effective communication is advised among its employees and between the employer and the workers. These four issues discussed above must be taken seriously as they determine the progress, survival, or failure of any organization.
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