The Best Staff Management Strategies for Small Businesses

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The experience that your customers get from your business is one of the most important things about running a business, as this can directly affect your sales and business growth. Think about it; a happy customer will always come back. An unsatisfied customer, on the other hand, will not, and may also go out of their way to discourage others from patronising your business.

For your customers to experience the best your business has to offer, your staff need to be well taken care of and properly managed. Their performance heavily depends on how you manage them, their skills and their welfare. And of course, a well-managed team can lead to increased productivity and business growth.

In this article, we’ll talk about the best staff management strategies and processes for small businesses, and how you can get the best out of your staff members!

We’ll discuss:

1. What staff management is

2. What a good staff management process looks like

3. Staff management strategies for small businesses

4. How to manage your staff with Bumpa

What is Staff Management?

Staff management refers to the process of overseeing and coordinating the activities and performance of employees within an organisation, which in this case is your business. It includes tasks such as hiring the right people for the job, training them to fulfil their roles, assigning work responsibilities, monitoring performance, providing feedback and guidance, and addressing any issues or concerns that may arise. In small businesses, staff management often requires a hands-on approach where business owners or managers directly oversee and interact with employees, promoting a tight and collaborative work environment.

Efficient staff management in small businesses helps maximise productivity, increases employee engagement, and contributes to the overall success and growth of the business.

What’s a Great Staff Management Process Like?

To manage your staff better, it’s imperative to understand what a good staff management process is like. The great thing about being a small business with a limited number of staff members is that your staff management process can be more streamlined and flexible. Here are the essential staff management processes that are particularly relevant to your business.

1. Planning:

Hiring staff costs money, and without planning, you might end up hiring the people you don’t need. As your business expands from small to big, managing your business finances is very important.

Planning involves forecasting and determining the staffing needs for your business, both long-term and short-term. You need to identify the necessary roles and positions, consider workloads and anticipate potential changes or growth. Then, you need to develop strategies for recruiting, selecting and hiring the right candidates for those positions.

2. Recruitment:

The next step is recruitment. This refers to the process of attracting, assessing, and selecting qualified individuals to fill job vacancies within your organisation. It involves developing job descriptions and specifications and advertising the positions through various channels such as job boards, social media, or your local networks.

To help reduce the cost that comes with this stage, you can leverage personal networks, like sharing job openings on your social media channels, with your friends and family, or in your group chats. But always make sure to prioritise candidates that have the necessary skills and experience, and align with your business’s values and culture.

3. Hiring:

This is the specific process of selecting and bringing candidates on board to fill job positions within your organisation. It is the conclusion of the recruitment process and involves making a final decision to extend a job offer to the most suitable candidate. The process typically includes reviewing CVs or resumes, conducting interviews, assessing candidates' skills and qualifications, and checking references, followed by an offer and a contract, and onboarding activities to ensure a smooth transition for the new employee into their role, and the organisation.

4. Training and Development:

This part of the process is very important because as your employees become better at their jobs, productivity, customer satisfaction and retention increase. For example, if your customer service team take a course in improving customer service and experience, it is directly related to how they’ll treat your customers, and good service will make your customers come back multiple times.

As a small business, you may have limited resources, so training and development programs may be scaled to accommodate only specific needs and budgets. This could involve leveraging online training platforms, free courses and materials, and utilising internal expertise.

Training also promotes a culture of continuous learning and supports employees' professional growth and career advancement within your organisation.

5. Appraisal & Promotion:

For the final process, appraisal and promotion encompass evaluating employee performance, providing feedback, and recognizing and rewarding achievements. Regular performance appraisals should be conducted to assess job performance against predetermined goals, while promotions offer opportunities for career advancement based on merit, experience, and demonstrated skills. These processes help you to motivate and retain good employees and create a positive work environment. It is also a great way to cultivate employee loyalty and commitment to your business.

What are the Best Staff Management Strategies Needed for A Small Business?

Truth is, whether your business is big or small, staff management is important. So how do you manage your staff in the best way? Here are 5 tips to effectively manage your staff.

1. Create a positive work environment

Creating a space where your employees feel heard, valued and encouraged to share their ideas and concerns is one of the first and best strategies for managing employees. Not only does it foster a positive work environment, but it also directly impacts employee satisfaction and productivity. And remember what we said earlier about how these things directly affect business growth and sales.

Also, encourage team-building and collaborative projects, to increase cooperation in your team. Recognise achievements and celebrate even the small wins to boost morale. This motivates your employees to perform at their best.

2. Set clear goals and expectations

To help your employees have a clear understanding of what is expected of them, it is important to set goals and performance metrics. This leads to improved focus, and every employee becomes accountable for their role. It also helps to reduce confusion and conflict in the workspace. For example, if you have 2 employees handling customers, you could have one simply taking orders via your sales channels, and the other one processing the order and packaging the items for shipping and delivery. If a situation like a customer getting the wrong order delivered arises, you’re certain of which employee you’ll need to follow up with.

Also make sure to provide regular feedback, whether it’s positive or constructive (not negative!), to keep your employees on track and address any areas of improvement.

3. Promote work-life balance

Health is wealth. A rested mind is a healthy mind. Knowing these, it is important to help your staff achieve work-life balance and avoid burnout. Encourage your employees to take time off, offer flexible schedules, set clear work boundaries, and create a supportive work culture. This shows you’re committed to your employees’ overall happiness and fulfilment, increases job satisfaction for your employees, decreases burnout rates and improves productivity.

4. Be a good leader

Being a good leader isn’t the easiest thing in the world. But to manage your staff properly, you need to learn the right skills to become one. Being a good leader involves clear communication, leading by example, empowering and delegating tasks, providing support and mentorship, recognising and appreciating employee contributions, fostering team collaboration, and promoting continuous learning.

5. Reward your staff

Lastly, it’s important to recognise and appreciate the hard work that your staff do. You can do this by rewarding them.

A reward here does not necessarily mean a salary increase. To promote and increase salaries, you have to do an appraisal first. A reward here could be for simpler, but impactful things. Customers always give feedback on how well-packaged their deliveries are? Reward the person in charge. Customers constantly talk about how empathetic and patient your customer service agent is? Reward the person in charge. This shows you see what they do, and you appreciate it. It also helps to increase productivity and customer satisfaction.

However, it is important to set clear criteria for rewarding your staff, to ensure transparency and fairness, and avoid antagonising others. A simple reward could be a coupon with a percentage off for them to shop from you!

How to Manage Your Staff on Bumpa

One of the most important ways to manage your staff is to make sure that they’re assigned proper roles. For a small business online, it could be from responding to customer’s requests to managing online orders or even managing social media marketing for the business. With roles specified, it’s easier to run a smooth operation.

We understand that, and we’ve made the process easier with Bumpa. On your Bumpa web or mobile app, you can:

1. Assign different roles to your staff.

2. Track their activities from wherever they’re working.

Related: See What More You Can Do with The Bumpa Staff Account Feature

The staff management is available for Bumpa Pro users, at 5,000 naira monthly! You can easily subscribe, or upgrade your plan right from the Bumpa app, to access this feature. Check out the app here to get started.

Related: See What More You Can Do with Bumpa Pro

Frequently Asked Questions

1. How do you manage a small business team?

To manage the work of employees in a small company, it's important to have clear communication, set clear goals, delegate tasks effectively, provide support and feedback, and foster a collaborative and positive work environment.

2. Why is staff management important?

Staff management is important because it ensures that employees are effectively organized, motivated, and supported in their roles, leading to improved productivity, employee satisfaction, and overall business success.

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