People management is the process of organizing the employees of an organization to optimize performance. It entails all the efforts involved in hiring, onboarding, training, assigning, motivating, supporting, and directing employees towards achieving the organizational goals. Effective people management skills are instrumental to the success of any organization.

It’s important to an organization because it determines employee morale which in turn, contributes to the productivity of the employees and the company at large. People are both complex and complicated, so managing them is quite a demanding task. It becomes even more tasking when you have to manage people of different ideologies, characters, and personalities to work towards achieving a common goal.

It is proven that happy people are more productive, according to research by Oxford University's Saïd Business School. The research reveals that workers' happiness improves their productivity by 13%. So, here are  7  people management strategies to increase morale.

1 - Create  an  awesome  employee  benefits package.

A competitive salary is important, but that may not be all you need to keep your employees' morale on a steady high. Beyond their salaries and wages, people also love to feel important, secure, valued, and loved in their workplace. A well-designed employee benefits program can help you cover all these, more than just official pay.
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Most employees compare the employee benefits program of different employers before they choose where to apply or start work. This means that you have a better chance of attracting good employees when your employee benefits program is great. So, it is not just about sustaining your employees, it can also help you build a formidable workforce right from your recruitment process.
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There are many benefits an employer may provide for their employees to make their work more rewarding. Some of these non-salary benefits such as insurance, Medicare, and social security may be required by law. Failure to provide them may attract severe consequences depending on the law functional in your area.
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On the other hand, employers may decide to add other benefits to boost their employee loyalty. These custom benefits may differ from one employer to another, and often reflect the employee-value system of an organization.

Common employee benefits packages include:

• Life insurance
• Health insurance
• Short-term Disability Insurance
• Long-term disability insurance
• Workers Compensation Insurance
• Social Security
• Medicare
• Retirement Plans
• Holidays
• Paid Time Off (PTOs)
• Etc.

2 - Cultivate an authentic  company culture.

Company Culture refers to the values, characteristics, attributes, and attitudes upheld by an organization. From the external, it is seen from the company's vision and mission statements, branding, operations, and standards - such as their recruitment requirements. In the internal, it is vivid in the company decisions, policies, and regulations, employer/employee interactions, etc.
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Building and sustaining a healthy company culture can be a good way to raise employee morale and enhance productivity. How a company treats employees matters a lot. No matter how much the workers are paid, they may still find it very difficult to perform at their best if they do not find job satisfaction.
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A good company culture is not just centered on the gains of the company. The welfare and concerns of the employees should be put into considerations too. Here are some recommended characteristics of a company culture that boosts employee morale.

Clearly defined goals

There's a popular saying that when purpose is not known, abuse is inevitable. Employees need to understand what they are meant to achieve and the means available over a given period. This helps them to set targets and properly strategize how they are going to accomplish their targets.
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Defining your goals helps employees understand where they fit in the whole picture. This gives them a sense of belonging, and increases their sense of responsibility towards their job.

Growth and development opportunities for employees

Employees tend to become more loyal and committed when they discover that their organization is also interested in their own wellbeing. Hence, a company culture that provides opportunities for the employees to advance in knowledge and other relevant aspects of life is a healthy one.

As an employer, you can organize training programs, seminars, conferences, workshops, and other learning avenues for your workers. You can integrate these schemes into the company's employee benefits and sponsor them. The good side of this strategy is that your employees' improvement in their skills and even their personal lives will also lead to an improvement in their output in your company.
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Support and enhance teamwork

Creating and implementing efficient teamwork is one of the best ways to improve your company's productivity. A team-minded system focuses more on team accomplishments and results. This helps to eliminate the struggle for selfish individual recognition and the possible envy, division, pride, and other negative things that come with it.
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Organizing your employees into teams helps to carry everybody along. That way, there is a higher opportunity for employees to learn faster by active participation and experience. It also creates a good platform for developing leadership skills and training.
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Teamwork also helps to foster good relationships among workers and leaders. It necessitates collaboration and teaches your workers how to take responsibility and deliver with minimal supervision.

Good employer/employee relationship

This is a very crucial part of every company's culture. Majority of the day-to-day operations of an organization are carried out by employees. How well they carry out these works and how well the works align with the company goals may depend on how well the employees relate with their employers.
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Employees should feel free enough to share their opinions with their boss, and maintain enough respect to stick to their boundaries. Beyond their workplace and official duties, endeavor to show concern over your employee's personal lives, and render assistance where possible.
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In a situation where the employer is too bossy or intimidating, it may result in a lack of confidence on the part of the employee. Contrarily, if the employer becomes too lax and carefree, it may lead to disrespect and neglect of authority. What matters is that you find a way to strike a balance in your interactions.

Fun and conducive work environment

When you make your work environment an enjoyable atmosphere, your workers feel more at home. Relaxation and moments of fun can provide the momentary reliefs your workers need to return to optimal performance. As exemplified by the famous Google company culture, you can enhance productivity by providing facilities such as sports, gym, health care facilities, laundry services, etc. 

3 - Build a smooth employee life cycle.

Employee life cycle represents the different stages an employee passes throughout their engagement with an organization. The life cycle includes the stages of attraction, recruitment/hiring, onboarding/orientation, development, retention, and separation.

At the attraction stage, how a company portrays itself to the applicants is one of the factors that determine the kind of employees they attract. To attract the right workers, build a reputable brand and make the recruitment process interesting.

Another very important stage is the onboarding experience. This is where most employees get a first-hand orientation about their new employers and the impression they develop matters a lot. This stage provides a good platform to sell your company's vision and goals to them, and get them excited to be part of your project.
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You can make their first day at work special by organizing a warm welcome and even free lunch. Introduce them to their leaders and teams, and find good ways to make them embrace the company culture from the onset. Create a sense of belonging and safety as soon as you can; this helps to make the workers accept the job as their own and give in their best.
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It is vital to establish systems to track and assist the development of your employees as time progresses. Step up their targets and responsibilities and promote them as when due. 
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You can set milestones for the first 30, 90, 180 days (or whatever suits you) on the job for assessments and rewards. Each stage of the employee life cycle is as important as the other. From hiring your workers to parting ways with them, poor management can have negative consequences. 
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You can leverage the different types of HR software solutions to help you manage your employees at each stage of the cycle.

4 - Empower your employees.

Employee empowerment is one of the best ways to boost your workers' morale and increase productivity. When you provide all the necessary resources they need to work, performing their duties becomes easier.
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You can empower your employees with more skills, better technologies, and better knowledge. On-the-job training and supervision empower workers with the experience and exposure they need to thrive in their careers.
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Also, helping your workers achieve their personal goals and dreams is a sure way to earn their loyalty. You can support them through programs such as scholarship schemes and promote employee lead initiatives to help them continue their education.

Other ways you can empower your workers include:

• Encouraging workflow flexibility when it is ascertained to improve productivity and efficiency.
• Providing moral and mental support when necessary.
• Offering healthy meals and vegetarian options in the office to fuel your team all day long.

• Providing skill advancement opportunities and platforms that can be either free or subsidized.
• Providing active supervision and constructive feedback to enhance progressive improvements on the job.
• Providing platforms and resources for effective guidance and mentorship.

5 - Develop an effective communication system.

Communication is one of the livewires of every successful organization. It is instrumental in driving the goals of the company into the employees. Without proper communication, it may be difficult to transfer the burdens of the leadership to the workforce.
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Part of the essential elements of effective communication is clarity. Regardless of the source of a message and its destination, information within an organization is best transferred in a clear, precise, and concise way. This goes a long way in averting misunderstandings and misinterpretations that may cause one problem or the other.
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The language and tone of the communication matter too. For instance, when an employee's boss talks to them in an intimidating manner, the employee may not be able to express themselves or ask necessary questions. This may eventually lead to mistakes in carrying out the given assignments and eventually affect the general output.
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The timing of information dissemination is also key to effective communication. Establish systems to set reminders and calls-to-actions to help your employee maintain a healthy duty-consciousness. That way, their delivery speed will improve and this boosts their confidence and morale. 

Both formal and informal communication are important and necessary. You can establish formal communication systems such as company emails and telephones for seamless communication during projects. A good HR software solution can help you by providing efficient platforms for reports and other necessary formal feedback system.

6 - Reward good employee performance.

Virtually everyone loves to be appreciated and applauded. Employees gain a lot of confidence and morale boost when their employers acknowledge their efforts and encourage them. Rewarding outstanding performances is an effective way to motivate and inspire your workers to do more exploits.

Rewards and recognition encourage healthy workplace competition among workers. It creates a sense of priority for employees to meet their targets and even go positive extra miles to stand out from others. The implication is everybody is fired up to perform well and get appreciated or even promoted by the company.

You can set up a bias-free system for assessing the performance of your workers at different levels. Sometimes, it may be better to announce the KPIs and the criteria for the rewards. This provides a good opportunity to channel your workers' efforts to the area your company needs improvement.

There are many ways to reward employees for outstanding performance, such as giving them honorary awards of recognition, scholarships, expensive tours, and bonuses, including specialized awards for corporate employees to acknowledge their exceptional contributions. The reward can also be a monetary award, or tangible physical gifts such as lands, cars, houses, etc. To foster better team spirit, you can establish team-based rewards. 

If you decide to go down the traditional trophy route for recognizing and rewarding employee performance, it is a good idea to hold an award ceremony that is inclusive of all workers in the team or department. And to get workers extra excited, give out awards with unique names and ask your team for their own award ideas.

7 - Use a software system that supports employee morale initiatives.

Human resource management software solutions are becoming more instrumental in achieving people management goals. With an all-inclusive HR software solution, it is easier to implement and automate your people management strategies.
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Push HR software offers you great functionalities that take care of your people management needs at every stage. While the applicant tracking system helps you find great workers, your employees can leverage the self-onboarding functionality for a stress-free experience.
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The software also helps you maintain effective human capital management. With the Human Resources Information System, you can manage your payroll, employee records, and internal documents.
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We hope these tips will help you understand how you can manage and retain great employees in your business!