Five Rules for Successful Staff Management
If you manage people, or wish to manage people, you must
know the rules for solving staff problems. For example, "How should I treat
Jenny when she gives me the silent treatment?" "What should I do about this
conflict between Steve and Pete?" "How should I respond when people want favors
from me?"
If you are not yet a manager of people, you soon will be
one, IF you follow these rules whenever you can.
An article by L. Ron Hubbard called "How to Fill Jobs"
outlines seventeen rules. Here are five of those rules.
1. Do not expect to improve your status or popularity with
your staff members by giving them raises. You improve your status by doing your
job and actively leading your group.
For example, one of your employees says, "Come on Boss, I
really need that raise. I have to pay my rent and am desperate. I would consider
it a personal favor and will be very, very happy if you give me the raise.
Okay?"
You say, "Sorry Jed. No raise. Maybe if you improve your
productivity for a few months we can discuss it. Let's get to work on that
project as we're already behind."
2. People will work very hard IF you have them do the work
they agreed to do when they were hired.
For example, your computer system crashes and 5000 records
need to be entered by your data-entry staff before they can do their normal
data-entry work. Because they were hired to do data entry, you say, "I know this
will be hard, but you people need to get these 5000 records entered by the end
of the day, even if you need to work all night. And then by the end of tomorrow,
you need to catch up your regular work, as well."
The data-entry staff grumble a bit, but soon they are
working harder than ever. They laugh about having pizza for dinner and decide
they can finish by 7 pm.
3. Pay attention to your staff's work. Make regular
comments about their performance.
For instance, you say, "Good job on getting those 5000
records entered by 7 pm!"
4. Do not play favorites or a form clique (a small,
exclusive group).
For instance, someone says, "Boss, a few of us want to buy
you lunch."
You say, "Great! Let's bring the whole team."
5. Demand excellent work standards.
For example, one of your staff says, "I'm mailing these
statements even though they are a little crooked. The copier messed up, but you
can still read them."
You say, "Throw them away and do it right. We're
professionals, oka