Q. My business is growing very quickly. As a result, it now has twice as many employees as it did a year ago. I used to handle much of the personnel management myself, but it is no longer possible. However, now I’m not sure whether all of my managers are getting the best out of their staff and giving me the quality feedback I need. What strategies can you suggest for managing the managers?
 
Howard Hackney of Grant Thornton writes:

Given the rapid growth of the business, it is understandable that you no longer have any time to spend on personnel matters. This is not an uncommon problem, and you are right to be concerned. It’s vital your personal attitude and philosophy, which has led to the success of your business, are imbued in your staff for that success to continue.

You are faced with two fundamental issues. The fi rst is how to deal with the necessary administrative compliance. It is essential that you ensure appropriate responsibility is taken for complying with the raft of employment legislation.

Depending on your size, you may wish to outsource this or recruit a full-time personnel director.

However, in terms of obtaining the best from your staff and managers, it is a matter of relentless hard work – as is all good management. The establishment of an appropriate staff handbook (and policies and procedures) is a helpful starting point, but essentially it is about creating the right cultural environment.

It’s important for management to lead by example, have a clear idea of what is key to the business, a genuine interest in people and a belief in their importance to the organisation.

It commences with the recruitment of the best possible people with the right skills and attitudes. As a fast-growing business, the employee induction procedures are a key element of your strategy to ensure a full understanding of the business’ objectives and values is communicated from the outset.

On an ongoing basis, you should have an appraisal process, which is standard across your business, and focused on meeting the goals of the organisation, while genuinely helping staff to grow and develop. Reward structures that are aligned to meeting strategic goals are likely to prove of assistance.

You should then think about your communication structures, both formal and informal. Formal ones include methods such as newsletters, management meetings, team meetings, manager and staff briefings – but you must avoid the syndrome of having meetings for their own sake. They must have a purpose and an agenda, with a view to satisfying the business’ commercial objectives.

There is no right or wrong way to go about it, but the informal communication process is perhaps the best demonstration of your management team’s commitment to your strategy and values of the business, and it is likely to have the most direct impact.