Advanced people management techniques for leaders

Being able to effectively manage people is crucial to organizational success. Successful leaders help employees do their best work by inspiring productivity, boosting engagement, and driving innovation. But what is the key to managing people, and how can today's leaders build the right skills?

This article will explore the next-level people management approaches for today's workforce. You will learn the skills that will help your team and organization thrive.

What is the key to managing people in today’s workforce?

Advancing technology is causing the breakdown of the traditional, hierarchical company structure.¹ Changing workflows require leaders to be dynamic, adaptable, and people-focused.

To learn how to manage people at work, effective leaders focus on individual needs, strengths, and goals. They cultivate emotional intelligence and lead evolving teams while maintaining focus on key business goals.

Core principles of people management

As workplaces change, the same core skills enable leaders to manage people effectively:

• Communicating clearly
• Setting expectations
• Delivering feedback
• Resolving conflict
• Taking accountability

These are the same core principles that leaders have used for generations, but today's leaders apply them in new and evolving ways. Clear communication is no longer about reiterating employee responsibilities. Skilled leaders today encourage productive back-and-forth communications, learning what employees need so they understand how to leverage them effectively.

As these skills evolve to meet the demands of the modern workplace, leaders must be proactive in staying up to date. Master of Business Administration (MBA) coursework is a valuable resource and can help you implement critical changes, starting with the evolution of workplace culture.

What people management strategies can you start implementing?

People managing requires hands-on skill development, particularly where fundamental skills like communication are concerned. Here are six core competencies you can learn about and introduce at work.

Create a positive workplace culture

Leaders play a pivotal role in shaping team culture, for better or worse. They set an example by modeling the decisions and actions they see as critical, and their direct reports follow suit. Whether you, as a leader, are promoting work-life balance or shifting more autonomy to managers, your actions speak first.

Also, in a global study published in the Harvard Business Review, senior leaders increased employee trust by 26% when they modeled a positive approach to culture. This happened with no other publicity around cultural change.²

University of Kansas (KU) professor Nate Meikle teaches this phenomenon through an interview with Frank Blake, former CEO of Home Depot. Blake built a culture of recognition by hand-writing hundreds of notes each week, thanking employees for their impact on the company.

Practice transparent communication

Communication is the foundation of employee management. Teams need their leaders to give clear direction, provide honest feedback, and share key information about company goals and challenges. In one recent study, 79% of employees said leadership communication impacts their understanding of organizational goals. For 72%, that understanding is pivotal to their engagement at work.³

To meet employees' needs for clear communication, leaders must share their understanding of business operations constructively:

• Providing regular updates on key initiatives
• Defining team roles and responsibilities
• Providing regular feedback
• Asking and inviting questions
• Explaining the reasoning behind decisions

Employees depend on their leaders to share company information. Be the resource they need you to be.

Solicit employee feedback

In addition to providing feedback to your employees, ask them for their feedback as well. During your check-ins, find out how they feel about new policies and procedures. Ask them if they have the resources they need to do their jobs effectively.

Ask open-ended questions, and make sure you listen to the answers. You can significantly increase employee engagement and reduce employee turnover by asking employees what they think. It’s your opportunity to show your employees that you value their opinions. It’s also a great way to make improvements in your organization.

However, you’ll need to encourage open and honest communication before your employees will feel comfortable providing feedback. In addition to asking for feedback during regular check-ins, consider sending anonymous surveys periodically to allow people to say things they wouldn’t feel comfortable saying face-to-face.

Make sure you act on employee feedback whenever possible and follow up in subsequent meetings to let them know what action you have taken and what changes you will make. Simply asking for feedback without acting on it will erode your employees’ trust in you.

Empower teams to self-regulate

Powering team success isn't always about top-down encouragement. Sometimes, it's a matter of encouraging team members to speak for themselves.

KU's Nate Meikle has extensively researched this phenomenon, focusing on "amplification." This technique involves repeating a team contributor's ideas and crediting them, specifically to attract the respect they deserve. Meikle found that amplifying ideas can increase the impact of both the original contributor and the amplifier.

Senior leaders can use this approach to empower team members and support innovation. Teams can then pick up on this pattern and begin to monitor themselves, leading to less conflict and a reduced need for outside intervention.

Set clear expectations and goals

High-performing teams excel with measurable goals and transparent expectations. By understanding their targets, they can focus their attention on the right activities. Set your teams up for success by introducing concrete objectives. Use frameworks such as SMART goal-setting or Objectives and Key Results to help teams track desired outcomes.

The more specific your goals can be, the better. Measurable objectives allow teams to track their progress independently, which helps them self-motivate.

Foster professional growth

Career development is a priority for today's professionals. One survey found that 73% of workers expect employers to provide professional development opportunities, and 25% have left a job because their workplace lacked them.⁴ Yet, according to a Gallup poll, only 45% of employees have participated in workplace-based training and education.⁵

The most common barriers are competing time demands, lack of opportunities, and financial constraints.⁵ Senior leaders can resolve these concerns by prioritizing learning as a key element of company culture. Paid education, such as lunch-and-learns and mentorship programs, can go a long way toward improving professional development. Other options include company-sponsored conference attendance, leadership skills workshops, and team-based training.

How to manage people during times of change

Bain & Company researchers estimate that, at any given time, approximately one-third of businesses are undergoing significant transformations.⁶ Whether a leader is dealing with a merger, layoffs, rapid growth, or organizational crisis, they often need to draw on different management styles.

A team that once thrived on hands-off management starts to flail in the face of uncertainty, or a democratic manager finds unsettled employees less willing to contribute. At this stage, the thoughtful leader focuses on a people-first style.

People-first leadership prioritizes team members' well-being and personal experiences at work.⁷ The people-first leader focuses on empowering each employee within the constraints of change. They consider how each employee’s strengths can support the company's next steps, whatever they are at any given moment.

Enhance your people management with an online MBA from KU

Successful leadership is about managing the people you have with skill, understanding, and flexibility. In the online MBA program at KU, students learn the theory and practice of how to manage people in business, from hiring and training to compensation and performance management. A capstone course allows students to apply their skills to real situations, preparing themselves for leadership in the real world.

Find out how an online MBA education at KU can lay the groundwork for a dynamic career in leadership. Contact the KU School of Business today or schedule a meeting with an admissions outreach advisor to learn more.