A Guide to The Human Side Of Business Management
The human side of business is something experts began exploring as early as the 1990s.
In 1996, the Harvard Business School published a report examining the most significant problems a failing company faces. The human side of business management was one of the most prominent reasons.
They found that at the core of a failing business is the management style – or the human side – that creates a barrier to communication, productivity, and change.
Although there are other human factors at play, we're going to focus on the human side of management and how companies can change how they interact with and manage employees.
Trust And Collaboration
There have been many studies conducted since the 1996 Harvard Business School review.
Most of them found trust and collaboration to be essential factors to consider for the human side of business management.
David Kiron, Doug Palmer, Anh Nguyen Phillips, and Nina Kruschwitz published a book called ‘What Managers Really Think About Social Business' – and they found that it's hard to provide social collaboration tools within an organisation.
They consider the barrier to communication and state that it's hard to implement a shift because what you know holds power in a business, and not all managers want their employees to know everything.
Yet, the simple sharing of information can promote a trusting working relationship and better business collaboration.
It can be as simple as allowing employees to have more control over the client information they have access to rather than keeping sensitive information or broader company goals hushed.
Positive Reward-Based Working
Positive reward-based working is a great way to foster working relationships.
As humans, we work better and are more productive when we know there's a reward at the end.
Going back to the days of Pavlov and his dogs, we understand that positive rewards get results.
Even though we've evolved from making dogs salivate, the same principles apply.
One study found that an effective reward program like the one you'll see if you click here drops staff turnover by up to 31% and increases employee engagement by 17%.
What's more, 75% of employees agree they feel more valued and satisfied if they are signed up to a rewards program.
Structure And Clarity
Structure and clarity are essential to a productive working environment.
ReWork published an article that looked at some principles that foster the human side of business management and engaging working environments – structure and clarity are third on the list.
They encourage managers to focus on goals and roles and align with each other to create structure and clarity.
Every employee role should have an end goal because it provides direction, clarity, and a sense of purpose.
You can achieve that with regular meetings, updates, open communication, and the chance for employees to set their own goals and structure their day.
The human side of business should come before the need for profit and business growth – yet the latter seems to be the focal point of many managers.
But if a company can focus on the human side of business management, they can expect an increase in profits, reduced employee turnover rates, and a better working environment.
