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Managing People 4 biggest mistakes an owner can make COVER STORY | Best Practices â– BY JEFF SHEETS Managing people can be one of the more diffi cult things that the owner of an OPE dealership does each day. Most of the time you have an idea of what you want to get accomplished each day, but do you communicate that to your staff? Do you try to do everything all by yourself and then just have your employees assist you? On the other hand, do you let your employees do their jobs with little instruction? Neither of these options works very well. One way will burn you out, and the other way will burn out your employees. You need to fi nd a middle ground where you and your employees can work together to make the business the best it can be. In this article, I am going to look at four mistakes that can sabotage employer/employee relationships and cause ineffi ciencies. If you see your management style in any of these examples, you can change your style with renewed focus and commitment. I know that I've sure made my fair share of mistakes leading employees. Acknowledging and applying those mistakes to my leadership style helped me tremendously as they will you. #1 Lack of communication of the vision for the business and how employees fit in it When you hire people, sometimes you may not communicate to them how they fi t into the big picture of the business and how them doing their job correctly affects everyone else. You may assume that they know and really forget to have that conversation. You don't just need to have that conversation initially, but constantly. When your new employees do well, you need to compliment them on doing their job well. If you have to add new responsibilities, then you need to not only tell them how to prioritize their tasks, but you also need to communicate why and again how this helps everything run much more smoothly. You also should be looking to reward that employee for doing more with not only words, but also with a pay increase. An example of this might be a parts counter person that you train to be able to take in service repairs. You want that person to continue to focus on parts customers, but be available if necessary at the service counter. You need to communicate to that parts counter person what the expectations are in the parts department and when that employee can be involved in helping the service area. You must communicate to everyone involved how you expect this employee to add these new duties and how they are to react in various situations. Communication is the key in all situations. If there is not clear communication, employees get confused and generally don't enjoy the job they are doing, which can lead to internal problems and ultimately turnover. #2 Becoming friends with your employees This is probably one of the biggest mistakes that I see out in the OPE industry. Most are very small businesses with less than 10 employees, which means that the owner and employees work closely together each day and can develop friendships very easily. If you become friends with an employee, your other employees may perceive favoritism in how you treat your friend/employee. It is hard to manage a friend and maintain consistency in your management style. Sometimes, you can be too lenient and other times too harsh. The same thing can hold true for relatives working for you. There are some advantages to having relatives serve as employees because they may be more willing to buy into what you are trying to do, work harder, and have deeper conversations with you, but being honest with them about their weaknesses and disciplining them can be very diffi cult. You need to make sure that you show no favoritism in how you treat your employees, regardless of who they are. #3 Ignoring or not asking employees for suggestions on how to get better Your employees are the ones working in the trenches and seeing what is happening every day. If they come to you with a suggestion, as long as it's positive in nature, you should evaluate it and give it the utmost consideration. One potential problem: Would your employees feel comfort- able approaching you with a suggestion, PHOTOS @ISTOCKPHOTO.COM/WAVEBREAKMEDIA You may assume that they know and really forget to have that conversation. You don't just need to have that conversation initially, but constantly. When your new employees do well, you need to compliment them on doing their job well. If you have to add new responsibilities, then you need to not only tell them how to prioritize their tasks, but you also need to communicate why and again how this helps everything run much more smoothly. You also should be looking to reward that employee for conversations with you, but being honest with them about their weaknesses and disciplining them can be very diffi cult. You need to make sure that you show no favoritism in how you treat your employees, regardless of who they are. #3 Ignoring or not asking employees for suggestions on how to get better Your employees are the ones working in the trenches and seeing what is happening every day. If they come to you with a suggestion, as long as it's positive in nature, you should evaluate it and give it the utmost consideration. One potential problem: Would your employees feel comfort- able approaching you with a suggestion, 16 MARCH 2017 OUTDOOR POWER EQUIPMENT www.outdoorpowerequipment.com