Management skills, for human resource management.

In our careers, the title Manager or Director often means a “privileged” position. Yet we may reach it through professional development without knowing how to lead an organization's most important resource: its people.

Although your knowledge of what you will manage is unquestioned, executives often assume the person can also manage other people. The reality is that they cannot.

Below, I outline some important aspects to consider for effective human resource management and development.

Leadership - Yes, although it may sound redundant, being a manager or director does not mean you are a good leader. Leadership is one of the main management skills to develop. First, you need to understand that being a leader means setting an example, knowing how to listen and knowing how to grow through people. Once we understand this, we can begin to grow as leaders.

Training for Development - This is extremely important. Training because a role requires it is different from identifying people’s qualities and strengths, helping them grow and providing suitable training to develop within the organization and reach better-paid, higher positions. In other words, establish a career plan for employees.

A balance between personal life and work - This may be one of the hardest things to understand and separate from your role as a manager, but awareness of it matters. Understand that people are not machines: they need rest and time to enjoy their personal lives. If you are a workaholic, that is your way of living. But the worst mistake you can make is assuming your employees should be workaholics too just because you are.

People need enough room for their personal lives, to rest and to take VACATIONS. Let's understand this clearly: taking a vacation means disconnecting completely from work. You must respect your employees' weekends, public holidays and vacations. You have no right to demand that they keep checking their phones, WhatsApp, Messenger or email just because you have nothing else to do.

Expecting employees to be available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year is one of the worst things you can do. It creates work-related stress, makes people feel pressured or even frightened, and prevents them from enjoying work they probably like but that you make burdensome. Above all, it makes them feel undervalued as people.

Did you know that at least 30% of unjustified absenteeism stems from situations like this, where people would rather lose a day's pay to get some rest and spend time with their family? Food for thought, isn't it?

Communication - One of organizations' main problems today is the lack of clear, consistent communication through effective channels. When communication is inadequate, it creates rumors and misunderstandings.

When I mention effective channels, understand that I am not talking about WhatsApp, as many teams today assume they are communicating simply because they have a group on the social network. What a mistake! It is a useful way to stay in touch, but it should not be the main channel, especially for urgent matters. You do not know how often people check their phones. If you also want them to balance their personal and working lives, there is even more reason not to make it your primary communication channel.

Another important factor in communication is continuous feedback. If it is present, believe me, communication within the team is very likely to succeed.

Lack of retention of talent - When we least expect it, our best and most talented employees choose another organization. Among the reasons already mentioned, talented people need to demonstrate their abilities. If they feel their talent is wasted, they will seek new challenges and horizons where they are valued.

Identifying talented people today is one of the major competitive advantages many organizations hold over their competitors.

A tool that can help us identify talent to develop and create new leaders as a recommendation is the 9 box matrix (Nine Boxes).

 As you can see, being a manager or director is not just a title. You must develop several essential management skills, which will make you a better leader.

And you, do you dare to try? We can help!

!Leave your fears, live your dreams!