Any business has to manage its employees in the most efficient manner as this maximizes their productivity. Big companies can have full-fledged HR departments, which boost the business on many levels (Human Resources for Health). However, a small business with 10 or fewer employees cannot afford to have a dedicated HR professional. Instead, you can use the help of specialized firms, setting up a mentoring scheme, and monitoring personal employee interactions, among other tricks.

Employee Management Tips for a Small Business: Build and Run the Best Team Ever

#1: Provide Your Employees with Mentors

Lacking a direction and guidance on how to apply their skills most efficiently is a very common problem for small businesses. It can be resolved by sending your employees to special training. But if you can’t afford it, you should have mentors within the team to help the newcomers.

These people don’t necessarily have to do the same job for the mentorship to work. It’s more a matter of teaching the new additions how to fit into the team and integrate into the workflow.

Choose the mentors carefully and ensure they understand that their duty is not only to help with work-related issues. Their mentees should look up to them and feel comfortable to seek advice on team relationships and personal matters that affect their performance at work.

#2: Use an Outside Help

If you struggle with the ‘functional’ part of employee management for a small business, a PEO should become your best friend. These firms offer a variety of services that range from providing employee benefits to payroll processing and even training and recruiting.

Professional Employer Organizations are rather versatile, so study the service package they offer closely. You can save a lot of time by ordering a professional PEO comparison. This service will provide you with a shortlist of the best PEOs for your specific business and a detailed comparison of their services, strengths, and weaknesses.

Once you’ve chosen, the PEO will overtake a large part of your employee management duties. However, you’ll need to monitor their performance at work and intervene when you see a drop in productivity and motivation.

#3: Keep an Eye on How Your Employees Get Along

Monitoring personal interactions of your team is essential if you want to catch two of the biggest HR dangers. These are toxicity and bullying. A toxic employee loses you a lot of money, even if they are a superstar in their field and bring the company a large boost in profit. Harvard Business School warns that no matter how great an asset the professional might be, if they are toxic, they cause more losses because of the various liabilities and a high turnover rate. The latter is unavoidable as your other employees will want to flee the annoying individual.

Bullying in the workplace is also a huge problem because it creates a tense atmosphere of fear. The effects are felt by the entire team and bring down its collective productivity. And don’t forget about your liabilities. The bullied employee might very well sue you for not ensuring efficient protection. That’s why specialized training programs and seminars on workplace harassment should be a part of employee management strategy for every small business. If you are using the services of a PEO, find out if they provide this kind of training. If not, you can find affordable or even free courses online.