The Manager’s Role is No Joke

Most of us who end up with a people manager role know that the job entails planning, budgeting, staffing, leading and evaluating. But did you know that managers are agents of the company which means that what you say/email/text is considered to be what the company has said/put in writing? Did you know that you can be held personally liable in some states for something you “should have known” was happening in the organization? Did you know that a manager assuring an employee that they will “always have a job here” can be considered an implied contract?

Managing virtually? Did you know…

Now that so many managers are managing virtually we have even more concerns to be aware of. It is the manager’s responsibility to ensure employees are working appropriate hours, taking required breaks and documenting time off – even if all our time is at home. How do we make sure we’re doing all that?

It’s our responsibility to ensure employee’s have safe working conditions, have access to the resources they need to do their job and are treated equitably.

It is up to us as managers to ensure we’re communicating the overarching mission and vision of the organization and translating that into actionable goals among the roles that report to us.

It’s a lot.

How Are You Managing?

What support do you have to ensure that you are not only compliant but communicative? Not only informative but inspirational? Not only meeting expectations but building excellence? There are a number of resources at your disposal:

• Your company’s employee handbook – if it is up to date – should have all the basics of employee policy and procedure covered. This is where you’ll find things like how much time employees can take off for what kinds of reasons. How many breaks they should have and for how long. What the processes are for requesting a leave or documenting sick days. And more.
• Your own manager can provide direction in terms of overarching goals and senior management expectations.
• Your Human Resources department should be able to refer you to internal and external resources for people management practices.
• Your management colleagues can be a good source of information and support.
• A google search can point you to a plethora of people management tips, courses and training from free to exorbitant.

The important thing, if you are a manager of people, is that you find trusted information and guidance. Because if you think about your own best and worst managers and how they impacted your ability to do your best work, you’ll quickly be reminded of how important it is to do that job well.

Management Guidance

Here is a mini coaching session on management. It’s free. No one should have to struggle to figure out management and human resources leadership but good mentorship is hard to find.

These are the kinds of awesome tools and approaches our members learn in UPschool and my goal is for you to be able to build the most confident, inspired and contributing version of yourself. Won’t you join us? Membership is half price through 2020. For year round management expertise, live coaching and resources join UPschool today.