Learn to Juggle When Dealing with Employees

It is thrilling to be able to run a healthy business by learning to juggle when dealing with employees. Most entrepreneurs know they have all kinds of responsibilities to their employees. Some of these responsibilities are:

• Provide pay on time
• Provide a safe work environment
• Provide consistent and predictable policies and procedures
• Provide support to employees in need
• Provide a policy for the airing and resolution of grievances

This list is a basic bare minimum of things a good employer should be providing to employees each day. The more employees that are involved in an enterprise, the harder it becomes to provide all these things.

photo credit: dirkjanranzijn via photopin cc

In many ways an entrepreneur can be thought of as a juggler trying to balance the needs of employees, the desires of customers, the demands of governmental and regulatory agencies and the need to operate profitably. It is not an  easy task to handle the demands and desires of each of these stakeholders individually. Trying to keep all the balls in the air and handle the demands of each of these groups at the same time takes discipline, strength, perseverance and most of all, a plan.

One of the most important things you need to do as an entrepreneur is keep a list of all your various roles, obligations and desires. Along with that list, write down the way you would like to handle each of these things and keep the information readily available. The following are situations that come up often in the life of an entrepreneur in dealing with employees:

• A disagreement as to how to handle a customer
• Dispute between hours' work and hours for which pay is given
• Insubordination
• Intimate relationships between employees
• Employee confessing a substance abuse problem
• Time for promotion and more than one viable candidate

Some entrepreneurs will keep the information in hard copy format in a loose-leaf book on a shelf or a desk drawer. Other entrepreneurs keep the information in electronic form on a computer, tablet or even a smart phone to be reviewed when needed. It doesn't matter what form the information is stored in, the important part is to have the information written so it can be immediately accessed when needed.

A reality of life in business is that often problems come up in the middle of other problems. At my business, employees do not wait in line patiently for me to resolve one problem or put out one fire before bringing another to my attention. Instead,  I am often in the middle of putting out one fire when I am told about two others happening at the same time. As a result, I am forced to juggle several hats, several roles and several responsibilities so I can handle everything that needs to be handled. I find it is very helpful to have my policies and procedures written down so that when I am in the heat of battle, I can stay calm and follow the rules and regulations I have created.

Photo Credit: Janeane Davis, Juggling with Employees

Juggling responsibilities to employees and managing their various needs and demands is not something extra. It is an everyday task entrepreneurs must carry out. Prepare for this role by planning in advance how you will handle problems as they arise. You do not have to share these plans with the employees. The plan is yours as the business owner. Keep in mind the old saying, "if you fail to plan, you plan to fail" and act accordingly.

It is thrilling to make your business healthy by learning to juggle all the responsibilities to your employees. So, the question for you this thrilling day is how do you juggle all the responsibilities you have to your employees?