What is People Management?
I've noticed that many people aren't quite sure what a People Manager does, so I want to take this opportunity to talk about it.
People management is the art of managing a team to achieve its best potential. It's about fostering a positive work environment, understanding individual strengths, and aligning personal goals with organisational objectives.
What Does People Management Involve Exactly?
Building trust: Meaning creating a culture where employees feel valued and heard.
Effective communication: Ensuring clear, open, and honest communication within the team, at all times.
Conflict resolution: Addressing and resolving conflicts in a constructive manner, and being able to pick these up before they escalate.
Motivation & development: Encouraging continuous growth and providing opportunities for skill enhancement.
Performance management: Setting clear goals, providing regular feedback, and recognising achievements.
What is the different between People Management vs. HR Management?
While both people management and HR management are crucial for organisational success, they serve different but complementary purposes. Understanding these distinctions can help organisations optimise their workforce and ensure both individual and collective growth.
People Management: This involves the direct interaction with team members to enhance their performance and well-being. It focuses on day-to-day team interactions, employee development, fostering a cohesive team environment, and addressing immediate concerns and opportunities within the team.
HR Management: On the other hand, HR management operates at a strategic level, dealing with organisational policies, compliance, and the overall employee lifecycle. HR managers are responsible for recruiting, onboarding, training, and ensuring that the organisation adheres to labor laws and regulations. They work on creating frameworks that support people managers in their daily interactions.
It’s worth noting that some People Managers, such as myself, also do recruitment, onboarding, offboarding, and policy updates and reviews. If an organisation doesn’t have an in-house HR Manager or Director, People Managers will often work alongside employment lawyers when required, for example, I recently led and managed similar to two redundancy processes with the support of external employment lawyers.
What Kind of Person Excels in People Management?
I’ve worked with numerous HR Managers in the past, and from my experience of being a People Manger, they need the following characteristics -
Empathetic listener: Someone who truly understands and values team members' perspectives.
Strong communicator: Clear and effective in both giving and receiving information.
Problem-solver: Proactive in identifying and addressing issues before they escalate.
Adaptable leader: Able to adjust management styles to fit different team dynamics and individual needs.
Encourager: Constantly motivates and inspires the team to reach their full potential.
People management is more than just a role, it's a commitment to nurturing talent and driving collective success. If you're looking for people management services to increase your team’s performance, please do get in touch, I’d love to offer my support.